NEWS
Follow UsAgainst all odds, South Africa sprung a surprise when Dean Elgar’s unbeaten 96 led the Proteas to a famous victory against India in the second Test to claw their way back in the series 1-1. But with just one Test left in the series, the pressure remains on the Proteas to maintain their home streak against the visitors.
Ahead of the third encounter, South African skipper Elgar addressed the media, calling the Newlands Test as their biggest game in the last 10-15 years.
"This test is potentially the biggest we've had in 10 years, maybe even 15 years. And I think that speaks for its own respect. Test cricket is always going to have intensity, me as a player harbouring the intensity as well. So I don't think it's going to lack intensity,” Elgar told media.
Elgar also stated that the hosts have played great cricket up until now, with their win at the Wanderers bringing them back in the series.
"We've been playing actually pretty good cricket up until now. We've had a lot of things that go our away because you need some momentum and they're on your side. And we've been doing everything right.
"For us winning the series 2-1 one is huge, beating the world number one side even though it's in your back garden, it's still going to speak massive amounts for our players group going forward in the Proteas batch," said Elgar.
On the conditions at Newlands, the South African skipper insisted that the pitch will last for all the five days, setting up a thrilling finale for the series. "Pitch will last for five days,” he added.
"I've seen it from a domestic (match) point of view. Looks a little bit different. Yeah, they've done quite a lot of work after that game we had domestically and the condition is actually pretty good. I think it's the best I've seen Newlands in quite some time.
"The conditions look actually quite welcoming for us. They're just trying to prepare a good Test wicket because I think they obviously want the wicket to deteriorate over time into day four and five."