India took control of the Test series against South Africa when they won what was a decent Boxing Day Test match in Centurion and now the two sides make the short trip to Johannesburg for the second match of the three which begins on Monday.
South Africa go into this match knowing they have to win it if they want to keep the series alive whereas India have the chance to claim the series honours with a match to spare, which might allow them to manage some workloads in what is a busy year of cricket for them.
South Africa
It was never going to be an easy task in this series for South Africa but I still think they will be disappointed with their display in Centurion. They lost the match on the opening day when they allowed India to get away from them and while they prolonged the match as long as they could, they were always chasing the game from that point. That was at one of the South African fortresses and this match is at another so they will be eager to deliver a better performance here.
It is with the bat where South Africa have to show a real improvement. They weren’t terrible with the bat in the first game but they needed a couple more partnerships to get themselves into a position from where they could feel comfortable in the game. If they can put more runs on the board, and that won’t be a formality, then we saw enough from them with the ball to suggest they are not out of this series just yet.
India
When you consider that they had a bit of a chequered build up to the opening match and are still getting used to a new coaching combination and were in conditions which are still a little alien to them, India put up a wonderful showing in the opening match. You wouldn’t say their first innings score was a huge one but it was high enough for them to be in complete control of the match from that point and at no stage did they look like relinquishing that advantage.
The immediate positive for India is that there should be plenty of natural improvement in them for this match now that they have had a game in these conditions. The negative is that conditions at Johannesburg are unique and the pace and bounce in the pitch here causes problems to any touring side. You get the feeling the Indian bowlers will enjoy it here but whether their batters will have quite so much fun remains to be seen.
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Team News
South Africa will be forced into a change for this match because of the abrupt retirement from Test cricket of Quinton de Kock. Kyle Verreyne will replace him behind the stumps. Duanne Olivier is expected to be fit to come in here but there might not be an open spot for him.
India aren’t obliged to make any changes but Shardul Thakur had a bit of a quiet match at Centurion so if someone like Ishant Sharma is to come into the side it could be he who misses out. The likelihood is that India will be unchanged though because Thakur lengthens their batting.
Betting
Mohammad Shami had an excellent first match and I think he can go well again here in conditions which really suit him. He’ll get plenty of pace and bounce out of this wicket and can be a real threat to the batters. That will be very significant because he took eight wickets in the opening game on a pitch which wasn’t as lively as this one is expected to be, so he should really fill his boots even allowing for all the India seamers being decent.
Shami has a performance line of 100.5 for this match and when you consider he scored 160 in just wickets alone in Centurion that line looks very coverable. He won’t just score in wickets though, he is a handy enough batter and on this ground there isn’t a fielder who is out of the game with catches as well. Shami will get the new ball which gives him the edge over the likes of Siraj and although I wouldn’t want to say for sure he’ll pick up another eight wickets, he should get five and that should be enough to get this line covered.
Tips
Back M.Shami’s Performance – Over 100.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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