Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati is the venue for the second test match between India and South Africa and after a terrific win in the first test the Proteas need to avoid defeat to claim a series win.
This is a two match series which will be followed by 3 x ODI's and 3 x T20’s.
The first test was staged at Kolkata and the Proteas came out on top of what proved to be a low scoring thriller by 30 runs.
India were trading as short as 3/10 to win the first test and after the Proteas won the toss and elected to bat first the hosts bowled the visitors out for just 159 in 55 overs. Markram’s 31 at the top of the order was the highest score as Bumrah took 5 wickets for the hosts.
India were all out for 139 in reply with KL Rahul (39) the only batsman to make it into the 30’s. Simon Harmer took 4 wickets and Marco Jansen 3 as the Proteas fought their way back into the contest.
In their second innings South Africa were in huge trouble at 91/7 but Temba Bavuma was unbeaten on 55 (the only 50 of the game) and the innings closed on 153 (all out).
India required 124 for victory heading into the final innings, they were a batsman down after Shubman Gill had to retire hurt early in his fist innings and Jansen removed bothed Indian openers with just a single run on the board. Thereafter Simon Harmer took another 4 sticks to help him earn the MoM award, India were all out for 93 in 35 overs and the Proteas are now eyeing a series victory.
This was how the teams lined up in Kolkata in the first test.
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj
India Recent Form
India hosted West Indies in a 2 match series in October, the first test was a on sided affair with India winning by an innings and 140 runs at Ahmedabad and in the second match in Delhi they came out on top by 7 wickets.
In June / July this year a 5 match series in England was drawn 2-2 and another 5 match series in Australia which started late last year saw India go down 3-1.
South Africa Recent Form
The Proteas were in Pakistan last month for two test matches on turning pitches. They lost the first test by 93 runs but squared the series with an 8 wicket victory in the second contest.
South Africa completed 2 landslide wins over Zimbabwe in July which came on the back of their finest test match achievement, a 5 wicket win over Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at Lords.
A home series against Pakistan either side of the new year saw the Proteas win the first match by 2 wickets and the second by 10 wickets.
In November / December South Africa won both test matches at home to Sri Lanka, coming out on top by margins of 233 runs and 109 runs.
Recent Head to Head
The most recent series came in South Africa over Xmas and New Year 2023/24. The Proteas won the first test by an innings and 32 runs but India squared the series with a 7 wicket win in the second match. Another home series for the Proteas in 2021/22 saw India win the first test but South Africa hit back to win 2-1.
South Africa’s last visit to India for a test series came in October 2019 and India completed a 3-0 clean sweep with 3 wide margin wins.
The Betting
To win the second test India are 4/10 the draw is 12/1 and South Africa are 28/10 with Pokerbet
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
As far as the team news is concerned at the time of writing Gill was a doubt for India and Rabada, who missed the first test is facing a race against time to make the Proteas line up. This venue is hosting its first test match so keep an eye on any reports as to the likely conditions.
I’m going to side with the experience of Rahul to top score for India in their first knock and I’ll go with Siraj, who battled for much of the first innings of the first test to be top Indian bowler in the first innings.
Bet: 1st Innings Top India Bat KL Rahul at 4/1 with Pokerbet
1st Innings Top India Bat Siraj at 43/10 with Pokerbet
Prices from Pokerbet subject to change