South Africa v Australia 1st Test betting tips & prediction
South Africa will enter the three-Test series against Australia, beginning on Friday, as underdogs despite their home ground advantage and the tourists being struck by key injuries.
The Australians are priced at around the $2 quote with international betting sites, while the Proteas ($2.10) are slightly longer, but seemingly in the box seat for the opening Test in Durban.
Australia has ruled out middle-order batsman Josh Inglis after he suffered a broken finger in their ODI clash against the Proteas, while improving all-rounder Cam Green won’t play in the opening Test and is unlikely to bowl this series, after suffering a shoulder injury.
But the Australians have received some good news, with No.3 Marnus Labuschagne making a century in their warm-up clash against a modest Invitational XI in Potchefstroom, after a dry spell of more than three years without a century at Test level.
The Proteas are sweating on the availability of tearaway speedster Kagiso Rabada (hamstring), with their coach declaring no risks would be taken with their No.1 paceman. Tony de Zorzi has also been ruled out of the opening Test after suffering a hamstring strain during the ODI series.
Remarkably, Australia has dominated Tests at Durban, with the home team having just three victories from 11 encounters, with the most recent coming 24 years ago.
But the Proteas will take heart from their ICC World Test Championship final victory over Australia at Lord’s last year, which saw them crowned as the best long-form cricket team in the world.
South African squad:
Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne
Australian squad:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
South Africa v Australia betting tips 1st Test
WGL’s cricket betting expert has assessed the markets and found some value Proteas v Australia betting tips:
Marco Jansen most wickets in Aussies first innings
Jansen has emerged as one of the best pacemen in world cricket and he looms as a key to the Proteas attack, with our money on them taking no risks with No.1 paceman Rabada in the first of a long stretch of Tests. The Aussie top order has been flimsy against good pace bowlers and Jansen is averaging a Glenn McGrath-like 21 per wicket since his debut in 2021. He is paying $3.50 to top the wickets in the opening bat for the Aussies.
Temba Bavuma man of the match
The Proteas skipper has slipped into the top five Test batsmen in world cricket, according to the official rankings. The gritty middle order bat might be 36, but has scored runs against Australia before and will consider beating Australia as captain a career highlight. Bavuma is paying $16 with South African betting sites to win man-of-the-match honours.
Steve Smith to top score for Australia
Smith, despite being at the tail-end of his wonderful career, remains the Aussies’ key in their middle order with the ongoing struggles of Labuschagne and Travis Head (unsuccessfully in our opinion) being moved to the top of the order. We’ll back him to top score in the opening innings, and if he fails, double down on him in the second.
Proteas v Australia prediction
While the home team will not have history on their side it’s hard seeing the Australians making enough runs to defeat the Proteas in the notoriously difficult conditions in Durban, especially with Green on the sidelines. The selection of journeyman Nic Maddinson to slot into the middle order also looks dubious. This is why the better than even-money odds on a South African victory are great value, in a clash against a flaky Australian team that recently lost a Test to Bangladesh in Australia. Take the Proteas with some confidence.
