South Africa host Australia at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Sunday, with play scheduled to start at 10:00am South African time. Australia lead the three-match series 1–0, leaving South Africa needing a response to keep their chances of winning the series alive.
First Test Review
Australia won the opening Test in Durban by 214 runs, although South Africa will look back at a major opportunity missed. They had the visitors struggling at 124/6 before Matt Renshaw’s 190 helped Australia recover to 390.
The Proteas replied with 284, conceding a first-innings lead of 106. Several batsmen made starts, but nobody reached fifty, with David Bedingham’s 49 the highest score. Australia then declared on 314/6, setting South Africa 421 to win. Aiden Markram battled for 75, but the hosts were dismissed for 206 as Josh Hazlewood finished with second-innings figures of 6/49.
South Africa
The Proteas have made changes ahead of the second Test, recalling Matthew Breetzke and leaving Tristan Stubbs out of the squad. Ryan Rickelton will take the wicketkeeping gloves, putting Kyle Verreynne’s place in the starting XI under pressure.
Kagiso Rabada is expected to return after missing the opener with a hamstring concern, although his selection still needs confirmation. Tony de Zorzi remains unavailable through injury.
Rabada’s return would strengthen the attack considerably, but South Africa also need more from their batting. Getting through the new ball is only part of the job against Australia, and the established batsmen need to turn promising starts into innings that can dictate the match.
Australia
Renshaw was the standout batsman in Durban, following his first-innings century with 82 in the second innings. His success at number five gives the selectors an interesting decision, with coach Andrew McDonald keeping an open mind about the batting order.
Cameron Green remains a fitness doubt with an abdominal strain, while Josh Inglis is further along in his recovery from a broken finger.
Australia’s ability to recover from trouble was particularly impressive in the opener. South Africa had them under pressure early, but once the visitors established a lead, they controlled the game.
Weather
The current forecast suggests a risk of interruptions on Sunday and Monday, with better conditions from Tuesday onwards. That brings the draw into consideration, although the forecast does not currently suggest five days of persistent rain.
View the Gqeberha weather forecast.
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Match Betting – click here to bet
Prices correct at the time of writing but subject to change:
South Africa: 2.40
Draw: 5.50
Australia: 2.20
Verdict
I expect a stronger performance from South Africa, particularly if Rabada returns, but Australia look the more settled side and their bowling attack exposed the Proteas’ batting weaknesses in Durban.
The visitors were vulnerable themselves in the first innings, so I would not read the winning margin as evidence of a massive gap between the teams. However, with South Africa reshuffling their batting and Australia coming off a convincing victory, the visitors get my vote at 2.20.
The weather is worth checking again closer to Sunday, but my early preference is for Australia to secure the series with a match to spare.
Suggested bet: Australia to win at 2.20.
Aiden Markram looked in decent nick in the first Test in Durban, and South Africa will lean heavily on him if they are to level the series. He shares favouritism with Temba Bavuma at 4.75 to be South Africa’s top first-innings batsman, and I’m siding with Markram.
Suggested bet: Aiden Markram – top South African first-innings batsman at 4.75.
Marco Jansen impressed in his early spells against Australia in the opening Test. Although Kagiso Rabada is the slight favourite to be South Africa’s top first-innings wicket-taker, I’m going with Jansen. He has already demonstrated his fitness, and his ability to extract steep bounce, even from relatively flat surfaces, makes him a threat.
Suggested bet: Marco Jansen – top South African first-innings wicket-taker at 3.40.
Note: All prices are correct at the time of writing but subject to change.
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