South Africa v England: Test cricket betting preview, free tips & where to watch

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for South Africa v England in the second Test in Cape Town.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Cricket, from 8.30am Friday

South Africa v England second Test best bets

Kagiso Rabada to be man of the match
1pt 12-1 Sky Bet

Vernon Philander to be man of the match
1pt 16-1 Sky Bet

Joe Denly to score over 24.5 first-innings runs
3pts 5-6 Coral, Ladbrokes

South Africa v England second Test team news

South Africa
Opener Aiden Markram (finger) is out so Pieter Malan could make his Test debut. Temba Bavuma (hip) is unlikely to be rushed back to action.

England
Jofra Archer is doubtful with an elbow injury. Ollie Pope is fit again and is likely to replace Jonny Bairstow, while spinner Dom Bess is pushing for a recall as Jack Leach is still recovering from illness. Dom Sibley should be fit to play after a sickness bug.

South Africa v England second Test preview

England ruled the world in one-day cricket in 2019 but their Test team start the new year with plenty of questions to answer after a disappointing defeat to South Africa in Centurion.

The sickness bug that hit the squad in the build-up to the series certainly didn't help England's chances but a more worrying long-term malaise is their fragile Test batting.

The second Test takes place at Newlands, where four years ago Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow shared an exhilarating sixth-wicket partnership of 399.

That rollicking stand seemed a distant memory after England collapsed from 142-3 to 181 all out in the first innings at Centurion and slipped from 139-1 to 268 all out second time around.

The visiting batsmen can expect another tough challenge at a venue where South Africa have won nine of their last 11 Tests and fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander may well star again.

Both have cracking records at Cape Town, where Rabada has claimed 30 wickets in five matches and Philander has 51 in ten appearances.

Big Vern also averages 31 with the bat at Newlands and he played a vital all-round role in the first Test, taking 4-16 in 14.2 overs in England's first innings before making 35 and 48 in a low-scoring contest.

Philander is set to retire from Test cricket at the end of the series but he remains a wonderful bowler in home conditions. It may be worth splitting stakes in the man-of-the-match market between him and Rabada, who looked a little rusty in the series opener but still ended up with seven wickets in the match.

One England batsman who could stand up to the challenge is Joe Denly, who is exceeding expectations at number three.

Since finishing the Ashes series with a second-innings 94 at The Oval, Denly has Test scores of 74, 35, four, 50 and 31 against New Zealand and South Africa so a first-innings runs line of 24.5 looks to be underrating him.

He had a smoother preparation than most of his teammates for the first Test, scoring 60 not out and 103 in two warm-up innings, and he is looking more assured at Test level.

South Africa v England second Test venue

Newlands is a fortress for South Africa and in 26 Test matches at the ground this century only Australia (twice) have beaten the Proteas.

England piled up 629-6 on their last visit in 2016 thanks to a colossal stand between Ben Stokes (258) and Jonny Bairstow (150 not out) but the hosts responded with 627-7 and the match was drawn.

Visiting batsmen have struggled in four subsequent Cape Town Tests as Sri Lanka (bowled out for 110 and 224), India (209 and 135), Australia (255 and 109) and Pakistan (177 and 294) all suffered comprehensive defeats.