After drawing first blood with a hard fought win in the Boxing Day Test at Centurion, South Africa will go in search of a series win when they take on Pakistan in the second game of the three in Cape Town, which begins on Thursday.
Pakistan enjoyed periods of success in that opening game of the series and if they can extend those moments where they are on top into complete sessions then they could yet have a chance to level the series and force a decider.
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South Africa
The Proteas will take the victory from Centurion but they will know deep down that the issues that they had heading into the series remain in place and will need to be resolved if they are going to get back to the top of the Test rankings. That issue comes with the bat where they are crying out for some middle order strength and depth.
In South African conditions in particular there is a depth of bowling resources available to Faf du Plessis so all that needs to be sorted over the coming weeks and months is the distinct lack of big scores with the bat. It may well all stem from an inability to see off the new ball but at the same time the absence of AB de Villiers continues to loom large in this side.
Pakistan
It may well feel like one that got away for Pakistan with regards to the first match. Having wiped out their first innings deficit and with a partnership going in the second innings they looked well placed to set South Africa a very daunting run chase but then came one of those all too regular collapses and there was no coming back from that.
That is the second series in a row they have been in a position to win the opening match of proceedings only for a collapse to come along at the wrong time to turn what seemed to be a certain victory into a definite defeat. They did bounce back from that circumstance against New Zealand last year and need to show all their character once again.
Team News
South Africa appear to have a choice to make in their line up for this match. Vernon Philander is back from injury and Faf du Plessis has confirmed he will play. He also confirmed Duanne Olivier will play which means either Keshav Maharaj gets dropped or one of Dale Steyn or Kagiso Rabada is dropped.
Haris Sohail has been ruled out for Pakistan but on the bright side for them Mohammad Abbas and Shadab Khan are fit to return. There is talk of them going in with an unchanged side but you don’t leave bowlers like Abbas out when you are behind in a series.
Newlands
There have been 56 Test matches held on this picturesque Cape Town venue with South Africa featuring in all of them. They have won 25 and lost 20 with 11 of them ending in a draw. Pakistan are remarkably consistent at this venue having played here three times and losing the whole lot.
With Table Mountain in the distance and the strong atmospheric conditions the ball often does plenty here so batting can be quite tough. Only one in five matches end in a draw here and many of them have been rain affected. In saying that when the ball gets old batting can be fairly routine for teams who have survived the initial onslaught.
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Betting
I’ll take a couple of bets in this Test match with the first one being the performance of Mohammad Abbas who is a seriously good bowler and who should really enjoy these conditions. Vernon Philander has a wonderful record here and Abbas is a bowler very much in that mould. We’re not going to get many runs from him so we will need it to be covered with the ball but a line of 98.5 only needs five wickets. Assuming he doesn’t suffer any injury relapses I think that is well within his compass.
Temba Bavuma is always a favourite top batsman target of mine and having top scored for South Africa in the first Test without my money on him I’m not letting that happen again so I’m happy to support him here. We saw in Centurion that this South Africa top order have weaknesses that can be exposed so I’m expecting someone down the order to come up with the goods here. Quinton de Kock can’t be ruled out in that regard but Bavuma is a couple of points higher and having gone in for me before and at Centurion he’s my pick.
Tips
Back M.Abbas’ Performance – Over 98.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back T.Bavuma Top South Africa 1st Inns Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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