 Once the top two sides in the world, South Africa and Australia head into
an unusually-short two-test series starting from Wednesday. Cape Town will present
the home side its first test match since the New Year's test against India. Australia,
on the other hand, are gradually picking up under Michael Clarke, with ODI series
already in the bag and having shared the T20 series.
Australia have every reason to feel confident going into the series. They won
their last series in Sri Lanka, with their batting holding up under testing conditions.
In addition, the tour match against South Africa A provided valuable opportunity
for their key players to strike form. Most of their top order was amongst the
runs. The only worry would be Ricky Ponting who got a start but failed
to capitalize. Phil Hughes has good memories of his last tour here and should
help his confidence. Amongst the bowlers, Mitchell Johnson, often highly-rated
but disappointing, finished with a 9-wkt match haul. Spin continues to be the
cause of concern for them as Nathan Lyon failed to impress in the tour game.
Click for Live Score Card of South Africa Vs Australia
For South Africa, the short series means they have to strike the right combination
immediately. Graeme Smith returns to lead the side, having conceded captaincy
in the shorter versions. AB De Villiers returns from his injury. Also back in
the squad after five years is Jacques Rudolph. Add to that Jacques Kallis and
Hashim Amla and South Africa have a formidable batting line-up. The bowling,
while strong on paper, will have to be on their toes to be effective. Surprisingly
welcome would be the variety in their attack, something not commonly associated
with South African bowling. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir gets his first call up while
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will look to rack up some pace early on.
South Africa have not lost a test at Cape Town since March 2006 when Australia
defeated them. Only Michael Hussey and Ponting survive from that Australian team.
Jacques Kallis has scored eight centuries at Newlands.
The match may witness the odd rain interruption, but the weather overall looks
good.
Australia should be favourites to win this, but it remains to be seen whether
South Africa can overcome their rustiness and make things count.
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