Expect a run feast in 2nd ODI: Gwalior pitch curator

In what would come as music to the ears of swashbucklers like Virender Sehwag, curators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium have promised a "batting paradise" for the second India-South Africa ODI here on Wednesday.

In what would come as music to the ears of swashbucklers like Virender Sehwag, curators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium have promised a "batting paradise" for the second India-South Africa ODI here on Wednesday.

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India have already taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after winning by one run in a thriller in Jaipur last
night.

Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA) curator Ajay Sahasrabuddhe today said a tried and tested strip, re-laid
about two years back, will be used for the match.

"This pitch was re-laid in March 2008 and a lot of domestic matches have been played here. We have hosted
Under-22 matches, Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches here in the past two years and the strip is really
good for batting. We are sure that we will see a high scoring game. It is a 300-plus pitch," Sahasrabuddhe told PTI while the finishing touches were being given to the ground for the match.

Samander Singh Chouhan, the chief curator of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, who supervised the preparation of the pitch said the toss would be hardly of any significance on a belter like this.

"We are trying that it (pitch) remains the same for 100 overs. I don't think toss would be that crucial although it
may help spinners during the second innings but not much," Chouhan said.