The first Test between South Africa and India was epic viewing last week and the cricket world will be hoping for more of the same when the two sides get it on once again in the second Test in Centurion, which begins on Saturday.
South Africa won that opening game so they know if they win this match they will secure the series with a match to spare. India have to avoid defeat to keep the series alive heading to Johannesburg for the finale.
South Africa
You couldn’t call the opening game a perfect performance or match for South Africa because of their collapse in the second innings but they would have been perfectly happy with the overall result. Their bowling was particularly good although on spicy South African wickets you would expect that, especially against Asian opposition.
If they look a little further forward to when Australia arrive in a month or so they will be wanting, and indeed needing, their batsmen to perform better than they did in that opening game but I suspect there is an element of wanting to win this series regardless of how many runs they score so maybe we shouldn’t judge the batting.
India
It is with the bat that India have to improve if they are going to get back into this series. They were shot out twice in effect in Cape Town and had it not been for a counter attack from Hardik Pandya in the first innings then the margin of victory would have been even bigger than it eventually was so they need their senior men to stand up and be counted.
If there is a positive and something to build on for India then it very much comes in the form of their bowlers who were excellent throughout that opening match. I would imagine their seamers will have surprised many especially the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. If they can bowl as well again they have a chance.
Team News
South Africa will be forced into one change for this match as Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with injury. Chris Morris is probably the favourite to replace him on his home ground although there are other options.
India were well beaten in the opening game but they might not have the required options to make any changes and be more competitive or any better in any way so they could be unchanged.
SuperSport Park
This will be the 23rd Test match to be held on this ground and it is very much one where South Africa have built a fortress. They have won 17 of the 22 matches they have played here with three draws and two defeats. India can argue they have only played here once but they lost that match.
The wicket often favours the bowlers here but there have been some high individual scores so when batsmen work hard to get in there are runs in the pitch for them. We should see something like the previous match in terms of scores.
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Betting
Given what we saw in that first match you would expect South Africa to win this one but this Indian side has something about them and we should not rule out the chance of them coming back with some heart and fight here. I wouldn’t want to back India but they might offer enough to avoid chasing money on South Africa.
In terms of a bet on this match I’m going the same way as I went in the first Test which is the performance of Kagiso Rabada. He totalled 131 points in the first game where in truth he was overshadowed by Vernon Philander but with Steyn out I expect more of an impact from Rabada. He has a performance line of 115.5 which needs six wickets but may only need five if he clears the change with runs. I’m confident we’ll get that from him.
Tips
Back K.Rabada’s Performance – Over 115.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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