South Africa pacer Morne Morkel was surprised at the nature of pitch on offer at the Kingsmead here after India today took early control of the series-deciding second cricket Test by finishing day one on a commanding 181 for one.
Morkel termed the Kingsmead pitch as a "sub-continent like wicket" after Murali Vijay struck a delightful unbeaten 91 and together with Cheteshwar Pujara (58 not out) added unconquered 140 runs for the second wicket before bad light brought a premature end to the opening day's proceedings.
"I am very surprised with the wicket here. It looks like a sub-continent wicket," Morkel said at the post-day's press conference.
"It is really dry and a little on the slower side. After the 13th over, the ball looked like it was 60 overs old," he said.
"But as a bowling unit we need to soak it in. We need to bowl according to a plan, only to one side of the wicket. We need to stop the flow of runs, if wickets don't come our way. It is a good break for us, and we can go back and re-plan for tomorrow," Morkel added.
Morkel was the only wicket-taker of the day for the Proteas, sending back Shikhar Dhawan for just 29 runs with India's score on 41 at that time.
"We are hoping the ball can reverse a bit more tomorrow. We need to come out and stick to a plan and take a couple of early wickets while they aren't settled. And then wait for the new ball," he said.
