Newlands Cricket Ground pitch report: Test, ODI and T20I records and stats in Cape Town

South Africa rarely lose a Test or an ODI at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. Since readmission in 1992 they have won 25, lost six and drawn six of their 37 Tests here, and their ODI record at the ground is 32 wins and seven defeats. The T20I record is the odd one out. South Africa have won only four of their 14 T20Is at Newlands, lost nine and tied one, and the ground has not staged a men’s T20I since December 2020.

The next Test here is the third and final match of England’s tour, from 3 to 7 January 2027. Every split below is counted match by match from ESPNcricinfo’s full results lists for the ground: 61 Tests, 45 completed ODIs (plus two cancelled) and 21 T20Is.

Newlands Cricket Ground at a glance

Detail	Newlands
Location	Newlands, Cape Town
Opened	1888
Capacity	25,000
Ends	Wynberg End, Kelvin Grove End
Home teams	Western Province, MI Cape Town (SA20)
First Test	South Africa v England, March 1889
Matches	61 Tests, 45 ODIs, 21 T20Is

Wikipedia’s article on the ground still says 56 Tests in its body text. The ESPNcricinfo list has 61, running from March 1889 to South Africa’s win over Pakistan in January 2025.

Newlands pitch report: bat or bowl first?

The scoring has barely moved in 137 years. The first innings has averaged between 320 and 335 in each of the three periods below, which is a fair Test score rather than a big one. What has changed is who wins from there.

Period	Tests	1st-inns avg	Bat first W-L-D
1889-1970	24	320.8	12-7-5
1992-2009	20	328.8	5-12-3
2010-2026	17	334.1	7-7-3

From 1992 to 2009 the side batting first lost 12 of 20 Tests, even though the toss-winner chose to bat in 18 of them. That is a long run of captains making the wrong call, and they have adjusted since. In the 17 Tests from 2010 onwards the toss-winner has batted only 10 times, and batting first has won seven and lost seven.

The ground can still produce a collapse on any day. New Zealand were bowled out for 45 in January 2013, the lowest Test total here since readmission. In January 2024 South Africa made 55 in their first innings against India, and the match was over in 642 balls, the shortest completed Test ever played.

The white-ball formats point in opposite directions. In ODIs the side batting first has won 30 of the 45 completed matches. In T20Is the chasing side has won 14 of the 20 decided games, and since 2010 the first innings has averaged 169.1.

Newlands Test records

Record	Figure	By	Match
Highest total	651	South Africa	v Australia, 2009
Lowest total	35	South Africa	v England, 1899
Highest chase	334/6	Australia	v South Africa, 2002
Highest score	262	Stephen Fleming	v South Africa, 2006
Best innings bowling	8/11	Johnny Briggs	v South Africa, 1889

The three highest Test scores at Newlands have all come in the last 20 years. Fleming’s 262 for New Zealand is the record, Ryan Rickelton made 259 against Pakistan in January 2025, and Ben Stokes hit 258 off 198 balls with 11 sixes in January 2016. Stokes’ innings came in a match that produced 629 for 6 declared and 627 for 7 declared, the second- and third-highest totals at the ground. Briggs took 8 for 11 in the very first Test here, bowling all eight batters, and finished with 15 for 28 in the match.

Most Test runs and wickets at Newlands

Batter	Tests	Runs	Average
Jacques Kallis	22	2181	72.70
Graeme Smith	17	1363	48.67
AB de Villiers	19	1344	48.00
Hashim Amla	19	1332	42.96
Daryll Cullinan	8	882	67.84

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average
Dale Steyn	15	74	21.75
Makhaya Ntini	13	53	29.09
Vernon Philander	11	53	18.26
Kagiso Rabada	9	52	21.55
Shaun Pollock	11	51	19.52

Kallis is 818 runs clear of anyone else, with nine hundreds in 22 Tests. Every one of the top five wicket-takers is a South African seamer, which says as much about the pitch as any average. Rabada has 52 wickets in only nine Tests and is the only active player among the five. For the wider picture, see our lists of the most runs in ODI cricket and the most sixes in international cricket.

India’s record at Newlands

Format	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Tests	7	1	4	2
ODIs	6	3	3	–
T20Is	1	1	0	–

India went six Tests at Newlands without a win, from 1993 to 2022, before the 2024 match. Mohammed Siraj took 6 for 15 as South Africa were bowled out for 55, and India won by seven wickets on the second day to level the series 1-1. It was Dean Elgar’s last Test, and Aiden Markram’s 106 in the second innings was the only hundred of the match. That remains South Africa’s only Test defeat by India at the ground in seven meetings.

The ODI record is level. Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 160 in February 2018 is the third-highest ODI score here, and India won that match. Quinton de Kock made 124 when South Africa beat India in January 2022. India’s one T20I at the ground, in February 2018, was a seven-run win.

Newlands ODI and T20I records

Record	ODI	T20I
Highest total	367/5, South Africa v Sri Lanka, 2017	193/5, Australia v South Africa, 2020
Lowest total	43, Pakistan v West Indies, 1993	96, South Africa v Australia, 2020
Highest score	185, Faf du Plessis, 2017	99*, Dawid Malan, 2020
Best bowling	6/19, Henry Olonga, 2000	4/20, Stuart Clark, 2007

Nobody has scored a T20I hundred at Newlands. Malan finished one short on 99 not out in December 2020, in the last men’s T20I played at the ground. Australia’s 193 for 5 and South Africa’s 96 came in the same game in February 2020, a 97-run defeat that is South Africa’s heaviest by runs in a T20I here.

Newlands Cricket Ground FAQs

Is Newlands a batting or bowling pitch? It is a seamer’s ground. The first innings averages around 330, and the five leading Test wicket-takers are all South African fast bowlers. In ODIs batting first has won 30 of 45 completed games. In T20Is chasing has won 14 of 20.

What is the highest Test score at Newlands? Stephen Fleming’s 262 for New Zealand in April 2006. The highest team total is South Africa’s 651 against Australia in March 2009.

Have India ever won a Test at Newlands? Once, in January 2024, by seven wickets. That match lasted 642 balls and is the shortest completed Test in history.

When is the next Test at Newlands? South Africa play England from 3 to 7 January 2027, the third Test of a three-match series.

Other overseas grounds in this series include Old Trafford and the Gabba.

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