Flat Pitches, Dew Make Life Tough in India: Albie Morkel After SA’s Warm-Up Loss

South Africa’s bowlers were tested harshly by Indian conditions during a high-scoring warm-up loss to India, prompting consultant Albie Morkel to call it a learning phase.

South Africa’s bowling unit endured a difficult outing in their warm-up match against India on Wednesday night, with team consultant Albie Morkel pointing to flat, batter-friendly pitches as a major challenge across Indian venues.

Once a team concedes 83 runs inside the powerplay, recovery becomes extremely difficult. That was the situation for the Proteas at the DY Patil Stadium, where India’s batters dominated from the start. Ishan Kishan smashed 53 off just 20 balls to set the platform, before Tilak Varma (45 off 19) and Hardik Pandya (30 off 10) continued the assault, guiding India to a massive 240 for five.

Proteas Bowlers Taken Apart

Although the match was only a warm-up fixture with no direct impact on the tournament standings, the manner in which South Africa’s bowlers were taken apart raised concerns ahead of the T20 World Cup. Apart from Lungi Ngidi, who conceded just over seven runs per over, every other bowler leaked at least nine runs an over and struggled to contain the scoring.

Morkel admitted that bowling in Indian conditions, especially under lights, offers very little margin for error. He highlighted the lack of bounce and the impact of evening dew as key factors working against bowlers.

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“I think we saw tonight, and the series that South Africa played in India a couple of weeks ago and New Zealand now, it’s a brutal environment as a bowler to come out and do your thing. There’s not a lot of bounce in the wickets. It’s really too low bounce and it’s skiddy with a lot of dew in the evening. So, as a bowler, you’ve got your work cut out for you,” Morkel said after the match as quoted by IOL.

Proteas Need To Regroup Fast

Despite the heavy defeat, Morkel stressed that the team would treat the match as a learning experience rather than a setback. He said the focus would now shift to feedback and adjustments, especially from the bowling group.

“We tried a few things tonight, which we were happy about, but I think it’s back to the drawing board for us to get feedback from the bowlers as well. I think that’s important,” the Proteas consultant added.

One positive takeaway for South Africa was Lungi Ngidi’s response after an expensive first over. Morkel praised the senior seamer’s ability to adapt and use variations, which could play an important role later in the tournament.

“After his first over, (Ngidi) came back beautifully and that’s probably going to be his role in the team. He’s one of the seamers that possesses a really good slower ball and we’ll be looking to use that a lot more through the tournament,” Morkel said.

South Africa will look to address their bowling concerns quickly, with their opening match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for Monday in Ahmedabad against Canada.