After a heavily rain affected damp squib of a first Test match in Durban, South Africa and New Zealand will settle their two match Test series in Centurion when the second Test begins on Saturday.
This hasn’t been the longest series and in terms of the Test rankings it isn’t a particularly inspiring match but New Zealand are highly motivated as they have never won a series against South Africa while South Africa are a side in transition for whom a series win will be advantageous.
South Africa
We never really learnt too much about South Africa in the first Test although in the batting innings that they had they didn’t exactly pull up too many trees so they will be looking to bat much better on a ground where they have a decent record in this second match.
One positive for the Proteas was the form that Dale Steyn showed in the short burst that he delivered before the rain set in at Durban. If he can get back to his best then they can get back to bowling sides out and winning Test matches again.
New Zealand
The Kiwis will be delighted with their part in the play that did take place at Durban. They bowled tight, took their chances and restricted South Africa to a low total where you would have expected New Zealand to go on and dominate the match had the rain not had the final say.
We saw enough in the New Zealand innings to know that their top order will be challenged in this match and how they stand up to that in this match could go a long way to dictating the outcome of both the match and indeed the series.
Team News
South Africa have been talking about bringing Wayne Parnell into the side but getting him in might not be too easy. If he replaces Dane Piedt they only have a part time spinner and if he replaces JP Duminy they have a huge tail so maybe they will be unchanged.
New Zealand aren’t expected to make any changes after a pretty decent performance in the 100 or so overs that took place in Durban. Only a late injury is likely to change that.
Supersport Park
This will be the 22nd Test match to be held on this ground. Usually the deck favours the batsmen, at least in the early stages, and then comes a bit more level as the match goes on but with this being so early in the season we should expect the bowlers to get plenty out of it too.
However it plays South Africa will be buoyant heading here. They have played in all of the past 21 matches on the ground and they have won 16 of those games. They’ve also only lost two of those matches with three draws. New Zealand have been here twice and lost on both occasions and lost heavily too.
Betting
With the lack of cricket between the two in the opening match and the uncertainty of what might happen given this not being international season out in South Africa so I’m not going to go mad. I will dabble with two bets though.
The first is a repeat of the bet I took last week which was the performance of Neil Wagner. His line last week was 91.5 and it has gone up to 95.5 but that is fine for me. He is the workhorse of this Kiwi attack so if the wicket flattens out he’ll see plenty of action and having been born in South Africa he has a knowledge of the conditions.
He took three wickets in the one innings that was possible in Durban which was eye catching and if he can deliver an innings of that in this match then the rest of the match can make up the remainder of the target so I’m happy to go over on that line.
The other bet that interests me is a small punt on the man of the match and I think it could be worth chancing Hashim Amla. His statistics here are bordering on sick if we’re honest. He averages a phenomenal 87.92 per innings here with five of his 25 Test centuries coming on this ground.
His last three scores in Test cricket on this ground are 208, 109 and 96 so it is a track he loves batting on. If he gets in he can fill his boots enough to catch the eye of the man of the match judge.
Tips
WON – Back N.Wagner’s Performance – Over 95.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back him here:
Back H.Amla Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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