England v South Africa predictions & cricket betting tips: Hosts face tough test

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for the second Test between England and South Africa which starts at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 11am Thursday

Best bets

Keshav Maharaj over 86.5 performance points
3pts 5-6 bet365

Ollie Pope top England first-innings runscorer
1pt 5-1 general

Stuart Broad top England first-innings wicket-taker
1pt 11-4 general

Team news

England
Fast bowler Ollie Robinson will replace Matt Potts in the only change to the 11 that lost the first Test at Lord's.

South Africa
The Proteas are likely to be unchanged although Simon Harmer, a prolific wicket-taker for Essex in the County Championship, is a top-class option if they decide to play two spinners.

Second Test preview

Manchester United delighted the home fans with a much-needed victory over Liverpool on Monday and England's cricketers are also hoping for some Old Trafford inspiration in the second Test against South Africa.

After four rollicking run-chases against New Zealand and India, England suffered their first setback of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era last week, losing to the Proteas by an innings and 12 runs at Lord's.

They are favourites to level up the three-match series at 1-1 in Manchester, where they have won 12 of their last 15 Tests, losing only to Australia in the 2019 Ashes during that run.

However, England's batting frailties were exposed by some brilliant pace bowling from South Africa at Lord's, where Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and young left-armer Marco Jansen shared 17 wickets as the hosts were skittled for 165 and 149.

Dry weather and a lively, bouncy pitch are expected at Old Trafford but England are unlikely to temper their attacking approach under coach McCullum, who has kept faith in struggling openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees.

That could be risky against a South Africa side who have already beaten India 2-1 this year and showed at Lord's that they have arguably the world's strongest Test bowling attack.

As well as their eye-catching quicks, the tourists have an excellent spinner in Keshav Maharaj, who sparked England's second-innings collapse by taking two quick wickets just before lunch on day three.

Maharaj claimed 17 scalps in four Tests on the 2017 tour of England and has developed into a genuine matchwinner, taking 7-32 and 7-40 in the second innings of South Africa's two home wins over Bangladesh in April.

He also has an important role to play at number eight in an inexperienced batting unit, scoring a career-best 84 in the second Test against the Tigers and making a handy 41 at Lord's.

Old Trafford pitches tend to help spinners – Pakistan's Yasir Shah took eight wickets in the last Mancunian Test in 2020 and England's Moeen Ali was man of the match against South Africa in 2017 – and Maharaj can exceed bet365's performance line of 86.5 with one point awarded per run, ten per catch and 20 per wicket.

Ollie Pope was the only England batsman to distinguish himself at Lord's, scoring 73 in his side's first-innings total of 165, and the number three looks overpriced to top-score in an inconsistent top order. The Surrey man played nicely at Old Trafford two summers ago, making first-innings scores of 91 against the West Indies and 62 against Pakistan.

Ollie Robinson has been recalled to the England attack but Stuart Broad is worth backing to outshine local hero James Anderson and his fellow bowlers.

Broad has taken 40 wickets in nine Old Trafford Tests – nine more than Anderson in the same number of appearances – and he looked in good rhythm at Lord's, dismissing three South Africa batsmen in the first innings, all caught by the wicketkeeper or slip fielders.

Weather forecast

Cloudy but dry for all five days with temperatures of around 22C.

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