South Africa shocked Australia to win the first Test in Perth last week and the tourists head to Hobart for the second Test on Saturday knowing if they win again they will secure the series before the potential lottery of the day-night match to come.
Australia will be smarting from their defeat in Perth and will be looking to arrest their slump in this match to set up a decider but they have plenty of issues to overcome if they are to do that.
Australia
Everything looked to be going quite nicely for Australia in Perth when despite losing the toss they had reduced South Africa to 81-5 in the first innings with Hashim Amla out for a duck but from shortly after lunch on that first day they barely landed another blow on the tourists in the entire match and that would have disappointed them.
In fairness they had some good individual performances with Dave Warner and Usman Khawaja both going close to centuries with the bat while Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood toiled hard with the ball but Australia need the players who aren’t yet stars in this side to stand up and establish themselves.
South Africa
South Africa were tested both from a cricketing point of view and a mental point of view in Perth so to win the match will have given them a great deal of confidence. They got themselves into an early hole in the contest which they escaped from and then they lost Dale Steyn and had to play almost the entire Test a bowler down which was far from ideal.
Therefore to get a win in those circumstances spoke volumes of the side that South Africa have and you would imagine with a full quota in their bowling attack for this match they have even more to give. Hashim Amla made one run in two goes in Perth so there is more to come from their batting as well.
Team News
Australia have been forced into two changes with Peter Siddle and Shaun Marsh ruled out of the match through injury. Joe Burns will be the replacement for Marsh and he’ll go back to open with Warner while Joe Mennie will debut in place of Siddle. Callum Ferguson has been called into the squad and could replace Mitchell Marsh.
South Africa are forced into a change of their own with Dale Steyn ruled out of the series and quite some time afterwards too. Kyle Abbott or Morne Morkel are in line to replace him although there is talk of South Africa playing an all-seam attack in which case both would play.
Bellerive Oval
This is the 13th Test match to be played on this ground and to say Australia have been dominant here in the past would be an understatement. They have won nine and lost just one of the previous 12 matches with one draw. South Africa had a strong record in Perth and enhanced it but they play red ball cricket here for the first time.
The wicket at Hobart is generally good for batting but there is usually something in the deck for the bowlers. The weather is going to play a part in this match though with rain forecast for much of the opening two matches so we might have to sit through a few delays.
Betting
With all the rain that is around I’m not going to go too mad on this match. They say there could be two days worth of rain so I’m put off by the match betting and indeed any performances for individuals but there is the one which has caught my eye and that will serve me nicely for the match.
It is a bet I took last week albeit with a much higher handicap. It comes in the form of Dave Warner against Stephen Cook. I got a line where Warner gave away 3.5 runs in the first innings in Perth. He has to give up 10.5 runs here but I’m still fine with that. Cook looked out of his depth in that first match and still hasn’t made many runs on tour.
Warner has made a century and three 50s in his last four Test innings on this ground and if he gets himself up near 50 in the first dig here then it should be more than enough to cover the start he gives his South African counterpart.
Tips
Back D.Warner (-10.5 runs) to beat S.Cook (1st Inns Only) for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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