SA v Eng 1st Test Preview: Teams keen to get to winning ways

Both England and South Africa will go head to head against each other after suffering a dent to their confidence. Both teams are currently going through that resurrection phase after coming from defeats in spinner friendly conditions. In a way, both teams are still trying to find the right balance in the team. The reason for that being injuries, players from both sides have suffered from some sort of injuries are coming back into the team. Overall, South Africa look little more balanced and stronger than England but Alastair Cook & Co. will surely give a tough fight. The competition looks equal between the no.1 ranked side and the tourists. The two nations begin a four-match Test series in Durban on Saturday.

South Africa:

South Africa at home, will certainly hold an advantage over the Englishmen. The bowling attack looks stronger and has more depth. Dale Steyn returns fully fit after recovering from the groin injury to join Morne Morkel to open the bowling. The young revelation, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott make the lineup stronger. Vernon Philander, however, will miss the first two matches with ankle ligament tears. But, still, the bowling attack look revitalized. Hashim Amla has said previously that he likes having a spinner in his line-up as it gives the team a good balance. However, there are more chances of him going with the four-seamer attack and relying on Dean Elgar and JP Duminy for the spin option.

Batting wise, Temba Bavuma showed much maturity than Stiaan van Zyl against spin in India and made most of the opportunity he got. Van Zyl scored a century in the last series he played at home against West Indies. The Proteas will be thinking hard over whom to choose as the batting partner for Dean Elgar. Other than that, South Africa, with Amla, de Villiers, du Plessis, Duminy, and Rossouw make-up a world class batting line up which will have little difficulty in the home condition and would savor the advantage.

England:

England had a good preparation for the Test series against South Africa against South Africa A. However, the biggest worry for England before this Test would be the absence of James Anderson. Anderson is currently struggling with a calf injury  and may or may not feature in the first Test. Chris Woakes or Mark Footitt are likely to fill Anderson’s place in the team and will combine with Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Ben Stokes in the bowling line up. Moeen Ali will be the only suitable spin option for England to go with.

The batting order doesn’t seem to have any major issues. Cook and Root are currently the best in form batsmen they have in their squads. Opener Nick Compton, Gary Balance, Alex Hales and James Taylor will provide solidity in the middle order. All of them were among the runs in the practice games against South Africa A. This will definitely be a positive factor for them ahead of the series opener as they get ready to face Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel under overcast conditions on the Boxing Day.

Squads-

South Africa (first two Tests):

Hashim Amla (C), AB de Villiers (Wk), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Stiaan Van Zyl

England:

Alastair Cook (C), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Balance, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Nick Compton, Steven Finn, Mark Footitt, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Samit Patel, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Chris Woakes

Interesting facts:

• In nine series played between these two players since 1994, only one has been won by a margin of more than one Test.
• England have won 10 and South Africa 13 of the 29 Tests between the teams since 1994.
• South Africa have lost only 14 of their 47 Tests at home since January 2006.