If Vernon Philander was impressed with India’s performance in the Wanderers Test so far, he didn’t show it while addressing the media at the end of Day-three. The South African pacer, who grabbed four wickets in India’s first innings and followed it up with a gritty 59, was rather miserly when giving the Indians credit. Rather, he insisted the conditions played a big role in India gaining the upper-hand, with a second innings lead of 320 with eight wickets to spare.
"Don't be fooled. I think this wicket is pretty slow and they've obviously had time to adjust and get in," Philander said of the Indian performance. "If it had to be a quicker wicket like we had in the ODI game it would be a totally different ball game.
"This morning and yesterday when they bowled, there was overcast conditions which made the ball do a few more stuff on occasions and I think when we came out this afternoon [to bowl], the sun was brightly out again,” Philander said, before hesitantly acknowledging India’s superior performance. "I think they've played well. Well done to them."
Philander also felt the loss of Morne Morkel to an ankle injury while fielding hurt the Proteas a great deal. "Losing Morne was very painful. From then, we knew that Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and I will have to share the bowling load, with the spinners going for runs. It was a tough day to be in Graeme Smith's shoes, one of those days," said Philander, before confirming Morkel will not bowl in the Test.
Philander agreed with Ishant Sharma that the Indians bowled a better line in the first innings than the hosts. "They bowled pretty well. They attacked the stumps all the time and when a new batter got in they were at the bat all the time," he said. "I think that is something we didn't do well in the first innings, we did it a bit better in the second innings."
Besides becoming the fastest South African to 100 Test wickets, Philander was also the lone half-centurion of South Africa’s first innings, scoring 59 off 86 balls.
"I take pride in my batting and work hard at it in the nets as well as when I am away from the national team. I like batting under pressure and making a play for the team when the situation demands. I was reminded about the 100th wicket quite a bit. I prepare for every game the same way and hopefully can take a few more wickets for South Africa."
