The Australia Test cricket team will face their biggest trial in recent history this Thursday, the 1st of March as they embark on a 4-Test series against the Proteas in South Africa. After an absolutely dominant Ashes series on home soil, the Aussies will now face the 2nd ranked Test team in the world on their turf, which promises to be quick, bouncy and firey.
Pace will be the key to the series, and the first Test at Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban. The two nations boast arguably the two best fast bowling attacks in world cricket, and if India’s recent tour of South Africa is anything to go by, the pitches will aid those attacks.
The Aussie attack will be spearheaded by Mitch Starc, who took 22 wickets in four Tests against England in the Ashes. Alongside him will be Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood, who both also cleared the 20 wicket mark against England. Australian domestic star Jhye Richardson has also been named in the squad, and looks the most likely to fill a void if one of the three premier quicks comes out.
South Africa’s depth in the pace department is really an embarrassment of riches. They will be without arguably one of the best quicks to ever play the game in Dale Steyn, for at least the first two Tests. However, they will have Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel to call upon, all of whom are ranked inside the top ten Test bowlers in the world.
Rabada in particular took the cricketing world by storm in 2017, claiming 57 wickets in 11 matches to climb to number two in the Test bowling rankings. The 22-year-old never went wicket-less in a Test innings in 2017, and dominanted the Indians, taking 15 wickets over three Tests at the start of 2018.
TIP: Kagiso Rabada series top SA wicket taker - $3.25 at CrownBet
Young South African Sensation Lungi Ngidi will complete the four pronged pace attack, after claiming man of the match honours in his debut Test just last month. The quartet of fast bowlers is enough to strike fear into the hearts of any batting line-up, let alone an Aussie one that is so dependent on just one player.
Steve Smith had a record breaking Ashes series, piling on 687 runs at an average of 137.40 through the five match series. However, the Aussie skipper failed to fire in the ODI series that followed, and while we fully expect him to be back in form for the Test series, the remainder of the Aussie batting line-up is still a worry.
TIP: Steve Smith series top Australian run scorer - $2.75 at CrownBet
Shaun Marsh had a dominant Ashes series as well, but is still fairly unproven away from the safety of the Australian pitches. He averages a tidy 44 on home soil, but drops away to 37 away from Australia. The rest of the Australian top and middle order, which will likely consist of David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja and Mitch Marsh will have a lot to prove heading into the series.
The South African big four consisting of Hashim Amla, A.B de Villers, Quinton de Cock and skipper Faf du Plessis showed against India that they are capable of dismantling bowling attacks, quickly. They also showed that they are prone to a collapse, especially when the ball is seaming around early in the innings.
The bowling attack will be fast and fierce for the duration of the series, there is no question about that, so it will be the two nations batting line-ups that will decide the outcome of the the first Test in Durban and eventually the series.
Almost impossible for us to try to pick a winner in this first Test in Durban. These two teams are so evenly matched in every department. They both have an out and out deadly pace attack, and both posses once in a generation batsman, but rely heavily on said batsmen. We will give the slight edge to South Africa, only because we think they will have better knowledge of how this Durban pitch will play.
TIP: South Africa to win first Test - $2.50 at Sportsbet
