It may be two months later than we are accustomed to but the Test match summer finally begins in England on Thursday as Joe Root’s men take on South Africa in the first of four matches in the series. Lord’s is the venue for this opening match.
Both sides will be eager to get off to a winning start to the series so we should be set for a blinding beginning with a competitive showdown over the next five days.
England
Joe Root will take charge of the side for the first time in this match and immediately there have been changes to the dynamic of the team. England will play two spinners in this match which is unheard of in the first match of the summer but might prove to be a decent move on what is usually a flat Lord’s deck.
As ever when a match is at Lord’s all eyes will be on the bowlers. There could be a bit of cloud cover at various points in the match which will assist the bowlers but there isn’t likely to be a lot in the wicket. England’s strength is with the ball though so they will need to bowl well to be competitive in the game.
South Africa
The visitors will be under a new captain for this match too although is only a temporary solution with Faf du Plessis back home with his family. South Africa are one of the best sides in the world in this format of the game, if not the best, and they will be out to show that right from the off in this high profile series.
As with England, South Africa look a lot stronger with the ball than they do the bat. With the exception of Dale Steyn they look at full strength in that department so there will be pressure on their bowling stock to perform to make them competitive. They have already ripped through an England side at Lord’s on this tour.
Team News
England have recalled Gary Ballance to their side while Liam Dawson has retained his spot in the team. Haseeb Hameed has paid the price for poor form with Lancashire which means Keaton Jennings keeps his place in the team too.
South Africa will be without Faf du Plessis which means that Dean Elgar will skipper the side and Heino Kuhn will make his debut. The tourists are weighing up whether or not to play Chris Morris or the extra batsman.
Lord’s
This will be the 134th time this famous ground has staged a Test match. England have taken part in 131 of those matches. They have won 51 and drawn 49 times which means they have lost 31. South Africa have played 16 times here with a 5-7 record against them with four draws.
The wicket here has been very flat in recent seasons with the batsmen likely to be on top early doors but the longer it goes on the more it could dust up which could see the spinners come into the game a lot more.
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Betting
South Africa have already won a match against England on this tour at Lord’s. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they win this match too but I’ve tied a few quid up on them for the series so I’m not going to plough more into them.
One man who dominated when these two met in that ODI here in May was Kagiso Rabada. He took four wickets that day and took 22 wickets in three matches against England when these two met in Tests down in South Africa. He is a class act who should thrive at Lord’s again and the 5/4 that he bags three or more first innings wickets is too big to refuse.
Gary Ballance is back in the side because of the enormous amount of runs he has been scoring in county cricket and I fancy he’ll make the most of his recall. He is 4/5 to see off JP Duminy in the first innings and that looks a great price. Duminy’s record at international level in recent times is mixed to say the least and I would not be surprised if there is another struggle from him. I’ll go with the England batsman there.
If I have a doubt over South Africa it is about their top order if Hashim Amla fails. With that in mind I will have a go at someone deeper in the order in the form of Temba Bavuma. He tucked into the England Lions attack last week to make 85* and a repeat of that could be enough to land the top score honours should Amla not make many. At a double figure price he’s my pick.
Tips
WON – Back K.Rabada – Over 2.5 first innings wickets for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
WON – Back G.Ballance to beat JP.Duminy (first innings) for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back T.Bavuma Top South Africa first innings batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Skybet
Back him here:
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