ENG vs RSA Match Preview
In the second test between the two countries, the victory for England was set up by their bowlers. They bowled exceptionally well on the first day of the match. The lower-order batting took England to a great position and there will be a similar performance in this game, especially from their bowlers. South Africa was rudely brought down to earth in the second test after an impressive beginning to the test series at Lord’s. Even though the team’s confidence level would have taken a bit of a beating in the second test, they can learn from how England retaliated after losing the first test heavily.
Weather Report
The weather forecast for the 5 days of the 3rd test is that of a warm and humid climate. It appears as if there will be no showers only on Sunday.
Pitch Report
The pitch on offer at the Oval is a flat surface that will little help for the quicker bowlers. You can expect the spinners from both sides to come good though.
Notable stats
Head-to-head
England has won 4 out of the last 5 test matches played between these two countries. This again makes them the favorites to win this contest.
Joe Root's average
Joe Root goes into this game averaging 57.88 from the last 10 matches he has played against South Africa. This makes him a crucial batsman for England.
Team News
Johnny Bairstow received a freak injury while playing golf last week. He was the player to watch out for in 2022 for England and he has been ruled out of this test and also from the T20 world cup coming up next month. Bairstow will be replaced by Harry Brook, a middle-order batsman from Yorkshire in all probability. He will be making a test debut at the Oval. As far as South Africa is concerned, there was one change to the side in the second test with Marco Jansen making way for the spinner Simon Harmer. It looks as if Rassie van der Dussen will miss the 3rd test due to injury and Harmer will keep his place on the side.
ENG vs RSA Probable 11
ENG Playing 11
- Zak Crawley
- Ollie Pope
- Alex Lees
- Joe Root
- Ben Stokes (C)
- Harry Brook
- Ben Foakes (Wk)
- Stuart Broad
- James Anderson
- Ollie Robinson
- Jack Leach
RSA Playing 11
- Dean Elgar (C)
- Keegan Petersen
- Sarel Erwee
- Ryan Rickelton
- Kyle Verreyne (Wk)
- Aiden Markram
- Lungi Ngidi
- Anrich Nortje
- Kagiso Rabada
- Simon Harmer
- Keshav Maharaj
Dream11 Prediction
After all the drama due to the one-sided affairs in the first couple of matches, everybody is sorry that this is just a 3-match series. South Africa was on top right throughout the first test before England returned the favor in the second. However, it is expected that this match will be a closely fought encounter. We expect England to win the test and series 2-1.
Top Picks
Joe Root: Joe Root bats in the number four position. He has not come good and hasn’t made a significant contribution to the team total so far in the series. But he averages 50.14 in test cricket and has scored 28 hundreds. With Johnny Bairstow being ruled out of the match due to injury, the onus will be on Joe Root to make big runs for England. The former English captain has been in terrific form in the last 18 months and is likely to be their top run-getter again.
James Anderson: James Anderson is a pace bowler and he is 40 years old. But the swing bowler is still capable of troubling the best of the batsmen in the world, especially in the English conditions. In the second test match, he dismissed both the South African openers. In all, he picked up 6 wickets in the game and we expect him to be the top bowler for England again in this test.
Keegan Peterson: Keegan Peterson is a top-order batsman for South Africa. In the second test at Manchester, he faced 159 balls for his 42 runs. This score included just a single boundary but he places a great value on his wicket. Peterson was the top scorer for South Africa in both the innings at Old Trafford. You can expect him to top score again for South Africa in this 3rd and final test match.
Kagiso Rabada: The South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has picked up 9 wickets in the series so far from 2 test matches. This includes a fifer in the first test that was instrumental in providing a win for his side. Despite the wicket not being conducive to his kind of bowling, you can expect the quickie to trouble the English batsmen again in this game. He has picked up 252 wickets from 54 test matches.
ENG vs RSA Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: B. Foakes
Batters: D. Elgar (VC), K. Peterson, O. Pope
All-rounders: B. Stokes (C), J. Root, K. Maharaj
Bowlers: J. Anderson, K. Rabada, A. Nortje, M. Potts
