On this day in 2018: The Sandpaper saga rocks cricket
A piece of sandpaper hogged all the limelight and took the entire attention away from a clinical performance by South Africa on the field in the third Test at Cape Town. Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft was caught in front of the whole world trying to sneak in a piece of sandpaper into his pants after attempting to alter the condition of the ball.
And, Bancroft had simply acted on the instructions that he had received from the leadership group, comprising Steve Smith and David Warner. The cricketing world was absolutely shocked by the incident, and it led to major repercussions. Steve Smith and David Warner were stripped of their leadership duties and were banned for one year from the sport. Bancroft received a ban of 9 months. Also, Cricket Australia (CA) announced that Warner would never be considered for leadership positions again. The scandal left the cricketing world bewildered.
Fantastic camera work. He did not just catch Bancroft cheating, caught the Aussie dressing room sending a message to say hide the sandpaper pic.twitter.com/P9GHq9Rsv2
— #RenukaJain (@RenukaJain6) March 26, 2018
Now, let us focus our attention on what happened on the field. After winning the toss and batting first, South Africa posted a total of 311 runs on the board. The catalyst of the South African innings was Dean Elgar, who plundered a patient 141* at the top of the order. Pat Cummins was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies, and scalped 4 wickets, giving away just 78 runs.
In reply, the kangaroos posted 255 on the board. Cameron Bancroft was the top scorer for the visitors and plundered a brisk 77. Nathan Lyon too chipped in with a handy 47 lower down the order.
In the second essay, South Africa produced a solid performance with the bat. As many as four of their batsmen scored half-centuries, as South Africa scored 373 in their second innings. That meant that Australia would have to chase down an improbable target of 430 for victory. The Australian batting line up wilted in the second innings, as Morne Morkel proved to be unplayable. The kangaroos could not even survive 40 overs in the second innings and were shot out for a meagre total of 107. Morne Morkel picked up 5 wickets in the second innings to blow away the Aussie willow wielders.
However, 24th March 2018 will be remembered for a piece of sandpaper that wreaked havoc in the lives of three Australian cricketers.
