A brilliant start to Test cricket in 2022 continues this week when South Africa and India head to Cape Town to play out a deciding Test in what has been an excellent series so far. This is another match which will go towards the World Test Championship standings as well so this is a big game.
India drew first blood in the series but South Africa levelled up with an excellent run chase in Johannesburg in the second game. That sets up one match for all the marbles which begins in Cape Town on Tuesday.
South Africa
When you consider that they have been written off in plenty of quarters going into the series and after the first game, the response of South Africa in the second game was admirable. I think most judges would have expected India to win the series in that second match in Johannesburg, especially when they batted first, but South Africa had other ideas and not only hung in but delivered an incredible run chase to level the series.
The basis of that success was on the way they bowled. They were excellent with the ball in both innings and then showed bravery with the bat and a decent amount of skill to get the job done. That sets them up nicely for what would be a famous series win if they can get it and have them in good order for the huge amount of cricket that lies ahead in 2022. You sense in order to win this match they will need to show all their bravery with the bat once again.
India
India will be disappointed not to have won in Johannesburg. There are a couple of reasons why I suggest that will be the case. The first of them is the fact that they had the match in their control at halfway but couldn’t get the sizeable third innings that they needed and that cost them dearly. The other reason why they will be annoyed is that this is a side who like breaking records and going to strongholds of the opposition and coming away with the win.
India will be annoyed with how they batted in Johannesburg but conditions there are incredibly unique so they shouldn’t beat themselves up about how they fared there. They dominated the opening match of the series and if they perform like that again here then there is enough to suggest that they will be tough to stop. This is no longer an Indian side that is averse to winning big series away from home either so we can expect a strong showing from them.
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Team News
It is unlikely that South Africa will make any changes for this match. They played pretty well right through their side in the second game. That means that Sisanda Magala will have to wait to get his chance in the side.
India will be forced into a change with Mohammad Siraj not fit to feature in this match. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma will be battling for his place. Virat Kohli is fit to return. Haruma Vihari is most likely to make way for him.
Betting
Dean Elgar has had a good series so far and I think he can finish it off in style. As the captain of this side, South Africa will need their leader to lead by example and there is plenty to suggest that he can do that because he has a wonderful record in Cape Town. He averages a nudge over 50 on this ground which is a full 10 runs more than his career averages so the views of Table Mountain at Newlands clearly inspire him to deliver the goods.
To be fair that isn’t a surprise because this is usually a good deck for batting for the first three or four days so the fact he has a couple of tons here and three 50s in the 10 matches he has played here bodes well for him. Elgar has scores of 1, 77, 28 and 96* in this series and showed all his class in Johannesburg in particular. He is always going to be in the hunt for catches as well so I fancy the South Africa skipper can cover a performance line of just 78.5pts.
Tips
Back D.Elgar’s Performance – Over 78.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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