The second Test match between South Africa and England will be played at the Kingsmead in Durban.
The two teams played out a highly gripping and hence entertaining draw at the Centurion, and so neither team has opened its account in the series so far.
It has been an up and down kind of a tour for South Africa. They were the definite favourites at the start of the tour, but a 1-1 draw in the T20Is and an ODI series loss meant that the sceptics had had their doubts about the side. However, their performance in the first game, which left them just a wicket short of winning the game would have put them back in the pedestal of being better-placed for this game – Coral offering 7/4 for their win as compared to Sky Bet’s offer of 7/2 if England make it 1-0. However, the strongest contender is a drawn game (6/5 at Boylesports), what with a history of high-scoring games here.
The hosts were definitely bolstered by the presence of Jacques Kallis (4/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for his side) in the previous game as he went on to score a century in the first innings. However, in this game, their captain, Graeme Smith (4/1 at Boylesports to be South Africa’s best batsman) will also need to come good for them to drill home the advantage. Both, AB de Villiers (5/1 at Paddy Power to South Africa’s best batsman) and Hashim Amla (9/2 at Sky Bet to be South Africa’s best batsman) proved their mettle in the second innings of the previous game, and it will be now left to a JP Duminy (7/1 at Totesport to top the batting) to rekindle that touch which had seen him win the Perth test match for his side last year against Australia.
England did not have a great start to their first innings, and did not end too well in their second – before staving off defeat by the skin of their teeth. Andrew Strauss (7/2 at 888Sport to be the best batsman for his side) had a start in the first innings, but could not convert it into something substantial for the side, whereas both, Alastair Cook (11/2 at Sky Bet to be England’s top-scorer) and Ian Bell (17/2 at Bet365 to top England’s batting) failed to get going. While Strauss has had form going for him in the past, the pressure is on the other two to get the runs or run the risk of being left out of the playing eleven. In fact, had the bench strength been strong enough, Bell would have probably been benched by now.
South Africa’s biggest worry, though, will be the South African-born Englishmen, Jonathon Trott (9/2 at 888Sport to be the best England batsman) and Kevin Pietersen (7/2 at Ladbrokes to top England’s batting), both of whom who showed glimpses of getting to something big before losing their concentration. The hosts will look to get them out early before they convert their starts into bigger miseries for the opposition.
Tips:
Favourites: South Africa (7/4 at Coral)
Top South African batsman: Graeme Smith (4/1 at Boylesports)
Top English batsman: Kevin Pietersen (7/2 at Ladbrokes)