Hard work on slow surface - Morkel

Morne Morkel is confident South Africa can force a series-clinching victory in the second Test against India at SuperSport Park despite an uncharacteristically slow surface making wickets hard to come by.

Almost 30 overs of play were lost due to a heavy storm followed by bad light on day three, leaving the hosts 118 runs ahead with eight second-innings wickets remaining at stumps. That India still have a fighting chance in this match is down to Virat Kohli, who made a superb 153 in an innings where no other batsman passed 50. Morkel conceded that bowling to Kohli on such a placid pitch was back-breaking work.

"I’ve played cricket here all my life, and I’ve never seen a wicket like this at SuperSport Park," said the Proteas fast bowler after returning impressive figures of 4-60. "It was really hard work. In the heat, with conditions really tough, it was right up there with one of the hardest spells I’ve bowled.

"It’s quite tough when the wicket is so slow and if you get a batsman of Kohli's quality, he's got time to adjust. Bowling certain lengths, certain lines, we’ve got that small window to make a play. You’ve got a small window with the new ball. In the first hour the ball seems a little bit quicker off the deck. But after that, there’s actually been no pace in the wicket. Especially from the Pavilion End, I found it very 'tennis-ball-bouncy'.

"It’s important to come out with different sorts of gameplans. You need to try a lot of things. And for us it’s just, in a way, about keeping him quiet on this sort of surface, and bowling as many dot balls as possible. He came out with a lot of intent yesterday, looking to score and looking to take the game forward. And for us it was just about hitting our straps and stopping them from scoring too quickly."

Morkel even went so far as to compare conditions in Centurion to playing in the subcontinent. "It’s unheard of that a spinner bowls that amount of overs on the first day," he continued. "We even took the option to open in the over before lunch with a spinner [on day two]. There’s a very subcontinental feel to it. Tough scoring, tough to get people out. Luckily we’ve got some experience of that in the bank. But they are not the conditions that we want here in South Africa."

Asked if he thought a draw was the most likely result, Morkel talked up South Africa's chances of taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. "I think definitely a result is very much possible. If they get some early wickets tomorrow, or if we can bat through the first session not losing many wickets. The game is still very open. With the wicket now turning a little bit and keeping a little bit low, I think 250 can be a very good score. But it’s important not to look too far ahead. There’s still plenty of overs left in this game. For us it’s just important tomorrow, in the first hour when the ball is coming on nicely, to cash in."