Cricket

South Africa vs Australia 2nd Test Preview & Tips - Hazlewood to lead Australia to another Test victory

By Ben Darvill

2 hours ago

Ben Darvill 2 hours ago

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Australia lead the three-match Test series 1-0 after one game
Josh Hazlewood took 2/54 and 6/49 in the first Test
Preview, stats & head to head

Australia's Josh Hazlewood (Getty Images)

South Africa vs Australia 2nd Test Preview & Tips
Head To Head
South Africa Form
Australia Form

South Africa vs Australia 2nd Test Preview & Tips

South Africa were twice bowled out for short of 300 as their batting unit struggled to deal with Australia's pace attack.

Australia were indebted to Matt Renshaw in the first Test as his stunning 190 proved the key innings in a match that saw a single century scored.

Josh Hazlewood took 8/103 across the match for Australia
Australia have won their last two Test match outings

Head To Head

Across their last 10 Test match meetings, the Aussies have won five times, South Africa have secured four victories and one game has ended as a draw.

South Africa Form

South Africa went from having Australia on the ropes at 124/6 in their first innings to losing by 214 runs in a Test that teetered back and forth as two of the best sides in the game went head to head.

In truth, it was a bad Test for their batting and bowling unit across the course of the whole game. While they had the Aussies in big trouble in their first innings, they could not land the knockout blow. They also managed to take just six wickets in Australia's second innings as the touring side surged to 314/6 declared.

With the bat, Temba Bavuma returned scores of three and one as their captain struggled for any kind of consistency. A high-score of 75 across both innings for South Africa came in a pain-staking knock that saw Aiden Markram bat for 237 deliveries. While he did show real grit and determination, he was not given the support he needed to help turn his score into a winning innings.

The second Test will see South Africa desperately needing to find some form of consistency in their scoring and wicket taking. However, they struggled to breakdown what turned out to be a defiant Australian batting unit, while the pace attack of the touring side proved to be the difference.

I do not see the Proteas finding a way to see-off Australia's wicket-taking options for long enough to go big with the bat.

Australia Form

Australia managed to secure an impressive 214-run win over South Africa that has helped to steady a ship that had to stomach a stunning defeat to Bangladesh in their opening Test meeting.

While they did secure a 1-1 series draw, failure to win the series was very un-Australian. Indeed, Australian teams of the past would have steamrolled a side like Bangladesh. Of course, this is testament to how for Bangladesh have come, but it also alludes to the Aussies not quite being at their best.

In the first Test, Australia rode their luck in the first innings as Matt Renshaw's counter-attacking 190 proved crucial. With the ball, wickets were shared well across South Africa's first innings before Josh Hazlewood starred in the second innings with 6/49. His control put South Africa's batters under constant strain as he took eight wickets in the game.

Hazlewood goes slightly under the radar with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins around, but he continues to impress whenever he is given a chance. I back Hazlewood to star yet again as he leads the Aussies into an unassailable 2-0 lead over their hosts.

Verdict

South Africa v Australia 2nd Test

I am backing Australia to hand South Africa another defeat as Josh Hazlewood continues to take wickets for the latter.

Hazlewood 4.5+

Bowler Total Wickets

@-138.89 - 1 Unit

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Australia

Match Winner

@100.00 - 1 Unit