SA v Eng 3rd Test Preview: Opposite intentions make Wanderers Test a tantalizing prospect

South Africa and England will start the 3rd Test at The Bidvest Wanderers Stadium with different aims. While the home side will be keen to level the series after a satisfying previous Test, the visitors will be eyeing a rare series win in the Rainbow nation. The ground has a history of producing result-orientated Test cricket and one can expect a fascinating contest between these two high-quality teams.

South Africa:

Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the match due to the shoulder injury he sustained during the opening match of the series in Durban. There had been encouraging updates about his fitness during the Newlands Test but doubts over his recovery came when he was ruled “50-50” at the conclusion of that match and required a second opinion from another specialist on the injury. He was not with the South Africa squad in Johannesburg on Monday, instead remaining in Cape Town where he underwent a further scan. It continues a significant run of problems for Steyn, who has 406 wickets in 82 Tests, as he misses his fifth Test out of seven. Steyn sat out three of the four Tests in India with a groin injury and will now miss a second successive game against England.

The new Test captain, AB de Villiers will be looking to inspire the team to level the series. The major positive for the hosts was their key batsmen getting back to form. Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma batted brilliantly in the previous Test and will be looking to continue their good work.

South Africa will also have to find a way to cope and be optimistic about their depth despite the disappointment at losing Steyn. The Proteas will look up to Morne Morkel to spearhead the attack while a fit-again Kyle Abbott, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris and uncapped Hardus Viljoen be competing for places in the pace pack.

The team will think long and hard about the inclusion of a spinner since there have been instances at this venue when the home team has opted to do away with one. If they listen to the groundsman, Bethuel Buthelezi, the team should include a spinner in the playing eleven. Buthelezi, who is preparing his first Test pitch, has promised bounce, pace, and turn and said if it was up to him, he would play a spinner. Dane Piedt, who took three wickets at Newlands, may not automatically keep his place. South Africa could also go back to JP Duminy after he responded to being dropped from the Test XI with a career-best unbeaten 260 for Cape Cobras in a domestic first-class game last week.

For the sake of experience, the remaining place will probably go to one of Abbott or Rabada but Viljoen could edge ahead because of local knowledge. The Lions quick took twenty wickets in two first-class matches at the Wanderers this season which may force him into the XI.

England:

Highveld’s thinner atmosphere allows the ball to travel further and faster, while also pushing the physical endurance of the players, especially the bowlers, in the middle. This will be a new challenge for the visitors who have put in three days of preparation here ahead of the series resumption. The temperatures had soared to record highs on Friday in Johannesburg (38 degrees) and Pretoria (42.5 degrees). After the bowlers’ toil in Newlands England will hope that the hot weather does not mean the surface loses the characteristics which make it a result-orientated venue.

The evolving English side is not only searching for consistency with bat and ball but also in the field where missed chances proved costly in Cape Town. It was natural for Jonny Bairstow to dismiss the spate of dropped catches in Cape Town as “a blip.” But as England started their training ahead of the match with an intense fielding session, it was a reminder that they remain a work in progress in every way. The team missed somewhere between 5 and 10 chances in the second Test and have reprieved both AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla in each of the first two matches. With better catching, it is entirely possible they would be 2-0 up in this series.The likely return of James Anderson will add strength to the team.

England is searching for the right combination in the field that gives them the best chance to win games. Ian Bell has only recently left the slip cordon and James Taylor has only just moved to short-leg. It appears Ben Stokes may replace James Anderson, whose concentration is drained by the demands of bowling, as slip fielder to the spinners, while Nick Compton has yet to totally convince at point and Alex Hales is still bedding in at third slip. It will take time for all of them to acclimatize.

Bairstow’s batting in this series has been as reliable as anyone but batting is only half his job. And while his own keeping was better in Cape Town than it had been in Durban – he let through just four byes in 211 overs – he did maintain an uncomfortable habit of missing a chance a game. The team looks confident that playing at altitude will have any little negative impact upon them. They spent a week or so at the start of the tour in Potchefstroom – which is similarly high above sea level – and their seamers will enjoy any extra bounce and carry as much as South Africa’s. They will need to ensure the errors of Cape Town really were a blip, though, if they are to defeat the No. 1 rated Test team.

Probable XI-

England:

Alastair Cook (C), Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Finn.

South Africa:

Stiaan van Zyl, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Chris Morris, Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott.

Stats:

1. The Wanderers has not staged a Test for more than two years, when India were the visitors, and although it was a draw it was an epic contest where South Africa finished on 450 for 7 having been set 458.

2. The most recent meeting between the teams in Johannesburg was a one-sided contest as South Africa surged to an innings-and-74-run series-levelling victory in 2010.