England vs South Africa, ENG vs RSA, Today Match Prediction 25 August 2022

eng vs sa Match Prediction & Analysis

England suffered a massive defeat by innings and 12 runs in the first Test at the Lords. Thus was their first defeat by an innings at The Lords since 2003 and the first in the Stokes-McCullum Era. The second Test is scheduled to play at The Old Trafford, Manchester between 25th August to 29th August. A win here can give South Africa their first Test series win against the Hosts in 10 years.

Batting first, England crumbled to 165 in 45 overs after a five-wicket haul from Rabada. Each South African batter contributed to taking the lead of 161. The SA pacers didn’t give room to England to score freely and bowled them out on 149. England played just 82 overs combined in two innings. Rabada was chosen player of the match for his 7 wickets. 

With the win, South Africa is now at the top of the ICC World Test Championship points table. On the other hand, England have remained in the seventh position with 5 wins, 8 losses and 4 draws in this cycle. Both teams played at Manchester back in 2017. England won that Test by 177 runs. English batters Root, Bairstow, and Ali made half-centuries followed by a five-fer by Ali to take the series with the match.

TEAMS PREVIEW

England Preview

England has been struggling to find an ideal opening pair. Alex Lees and Zak Crawley have been average so far. While Lees is adjusting to the Test side, Crawley’s form is concerning. He is averaging below 15 in the last 12 innings. Ollie Pope’s promotion to the number three position has revived his career as he has 1 century and two half-centuries in 10 innings since the change. WTC’s leading run-scorer Joe Root had an off game. But he averages 65 at Old Trafford. We might see century number 9 of this WTC cycle from Root.

Stokes, Bairstow, and Foakes in the middle order have been surprisingly good for England. Though Stokes averaging below 30 in the last 25 innings, he has been sticking with either Root or Bairstow to stabilize the innings. Bairstow has 4 centuries and a half-century in the last 4 tests. He literally brought the victory to his side in 2 Tests against New Zealand and 1 against India. 

Anderson and Broad will be leading the pace attack with Matty Potts and Stokes. Broad became the fourth player to take 100 wickets at a single venue in the last game. Broad and Anderson have 71 wickets in 18 innings at Manchester at an average of 22. Newcomer Potts already has 20 wickets in 5 Tests. England will keep Jack Leach in playing 11 as their only spinner. 

Key Players: Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, James Anderson.

England Predicted Playing XI:

Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Matty Potts, James Anderson

England Actual Playing XI:

Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Stuart Broad, Zak Crawley, Ollie Robinson, Alex Lees, Ben Foakes, James Anderson, Ben Stokes

South Africa Preview

A win at The Lords must have boosted the confidence of the SA side. They will remain unchanged for the second game. Elgar and Sarel Erwee will open for SA. Erwee scored 73 in the first Test while putting an opening stand of 85 runs with skipper Elgar. Keegan Peterson and Elgar have 9 half centuries in the 8 Tests played of this cycle of WTC. But Markram’s form is a concern for SA. The right-handed batter is without a big score in the last 7 Tests.

SA’s middle order is highly vulnerable. With Van der Dussen not scoring, they have Kyle Verreyne whose average is below 30. Marco Jansen scored crucial 48 runs at the number 6 position in the first test. But he is not a trustworthy all-rounder. England can exploit these shortcomings in the middle.

Wow! Rabada and Nortje nailed the pace attack in the first Test. Rabada is currently in super hot form. He has 48 wickets in the last 8 Tests including 3 five-fers. He became the second fastest bowler in terms of deliveries to reach 250 wickets in the last game. Nortje has 23 wickets in 5 outings against England. Keshav Maharaj will handle the spin department just like Jack Leach.

Key Players: Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.

South Africa Predicted Playing XI:

Dean Elgar (c), Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi

South Africa Actual Playing XI:

Simon Harmer, Anrich Nortje, Kyle Verreynne, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Sarel Erwee, Lungi Ngidi

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The weather will be mostly cloudy throughout the game. Some showers are expected on day 5. The temperature will range between 11 and 23°C. The wind will be flowing from the west at 8-13 kmh. The pitch favors pacers to generate more bounce as the game progresses. The outfield is fast. It is a little easy to score runs in the first innings compared to others.

Venue Details

The 2nd Test between England and South Africa will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester. The venue holds a capacity of 19000 spectators and has hosted 82 tests, 59 ODIs & 11 T20I so far. It is the home ground for Lancashire Cricket Club. Jim Laker has taken 10 wickets in an innings and 19 in a match at Machester.

Toss: To Bat

In 82 Tests, teams have successfully chased the target on 32 occasions. While team batting second has been victorious on 15 occasions. The average first innings score is 335 compared to 268 in the second. Therefore team winning the toss should bat first.