England took a comprehensive 1-0 lead in their Test series with South Africa when they won the Boxing Day game in Durban and now they head to Cape Town for the New Year Test looking to secure at least a share of the series.
If South Africa thought their recent issues in red ball cricket were down to turning pitches in India they were dealt a harsh dose of reality. They were humbled twice with the bat and looked pretty indifferent with the ball although they weren’t helped by the injury to Dale Steyn.
That injury has ruled him out of this match so Kagiso Rabada will replace him in the starting line up. Kyle Abbott has a hamstring strain so he is a game time decision. Chris Morris or Hardus Viljoen will replace him should he miss out. Quinton de Kock has been added to the squad and will take the gloves. Word is he could replace Faf du Plessis or JP Duminy.
England dominated the entire Boxing Day match apart from the opening session and in a way the fact they were in a bit of trouble but played their way out of it will do them no harm. The knowledge they could win so comfortably without Jimmy Anderson will also be good for them.
Anderson is expected to return to the England side for this match with Chris Woakes the man most likely to make way for him. That will be England’s only change if indeed Anderson is passed fit on the morning of the match. Alex Hales is in the spotlight but it would be a major surprise if he doesn’t open up throughout the series.
The picturesque Newlands ground in Cape Town is the venue for this second Test match. This is a wonderful setting for a game of cricket with Table Mountain in the backdrop to the ground.
There have been 52 previous matches on this ground. South Africa have a 22-20 winning record here although their record since readmission is much better than that. Only Australia have beaten them here in that time. England have won nine and lost five matches at this venue.
There has been soaring heat in Cape Town in the lead up to this match and that weather trend is expected to continue throughout this match so much like in Durban a dry wicket is expected which should see the spinners in the game once again. That might not suit South Africa it must be said.
I think the forecast being the way it is puts paid to a draw in this match. Come the end of the match the wicket is going to be very hard to bat on you would think so the toss will be important but it might be more important for South Africa given England’s batting depth.
As it is England go into the match in much the better spirit. South Africa are starting to panic and have already abandoned the AB de Villiers keeping wicket experiment and also brought Graeme Smith in as a batting consultant despite him being quite critical on commentary in the opening game.
England are settled. Any changes they make will be on their terms which is a good position to be in. I often feel you can tell the state of a side by how they catch and South Africa couldn’t have been any worse in that area in the first game so even without a toss I like England in this match.
I also like England to lead after the first innings. They have a much longer batting line up and based on what we saw in Durban they have the better bowling attack too. Worryingly for South Africa, England dominated that match without Alastair Cook contributing with runs and generally he doesn’t miss out too often so England really do hold all the aces going into this match and I think they can lead at halfway and at the end.
Lastly given that South Africa’s attack is depleted going into this match I’m going to take a chance on one of the incumbent players in the hope England don’t know a great deal about him and get found out and that man is Kagiso Rabada.
Rabada hasn’t been seen a huge amount in a South Africa shirt but it is quite clear he is a talented bowler. He bowls with good pace and gets the ball to do something off the seam so he could be a bit of a handful in the first innings at the very least.
We needn’t take much notice of his Test career so far as it has been played on totally unsuitable pitches to his style but in familiar conditions I fancy he’ll impress up front.
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