Richard Mann has four bets ranging from 50/1 to 4/1 in his preview of the second Test between South Africa and Australia which begins on Sunday.
Cricket tips: South Africa v Australia
2pts No hundred in the match at 4/1 (William Hill)
1pt Aiden Markram to be Man of the Match at 14/1 (General)
0.5pt Michael Neser top Australia first innings batsman at 33/1 (William Hill)
0.5pt Simon Harmer top South Africa first innings batsman at 50/1 (BOYLE Sports)
South Africa have work to do when hostilities resume with Australia in the second Test in Gqeberha on Sunday (09:00 start time).
Australia ran out commanding 214-run victors in the first Test in Durban, rallying magnificently from 124-6 in the first innings thanks to a brilliant 190 from Matt Renshaw, and they never let their foot off the throat thereafter.
While Australia’s vastly experienced bowling attack once again impressed, South Africa’s batting has rightly come under the microscope in the aftermath, with Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne dropped for the second Test.
Ryan Rickelton will now take the gloves and potentially move down the order, with Marques Ackerman in line to open on debut, and Matthew Breetzke potentially slotting in a number five.
Breetzke is a phenomenal limited-overs batsman who made a hundred against Australia in the preceding ODI series, but his First Class record is only solid without being spectacular, while the chopping and changing of Rickelton’s role this early in the series does raise the eyebrow.
The return of attack leader Kagiso Rabada will be a big boost to the hosts, however, so Simon Harmer’s position as the second spinner in the home XI may well come under debate following a quiet match in Durban, for all Anrich Nortje could be in need of a rest having got through plenty of overs on his own comeback last week.
One thing we know about this venue is that it does tend to spin, though the third and fourth innings is when this has historically been most prevalent, with the pitches and scores often proving a throwback to Test cricket of old when teams have needed to make their runs in the first innings before the surface deteriorates.
Time to back bowling over batting?
Expect the same again, but the weather forecast for Gqeberha for days one and two is currently overcast with plenty of rain predicated. That could make things challenging for batting against the seamers early on, especially if the wicket is under covers for extended periods. Throw in spin later in the piece, and the bowlers might fancy they can dominate.
Add to the fact Australia’s batting was heavily reliant on Renshaw in both innings last week, the hosts have Rabada back to beef up their bowling here, and that the hosts themselves batted poorly in Durban, NO HUNDRED IN THE MATCH looks a big runner at 4/1 (William Hill).
On the same line of thought, I’m going to throw a couple of darts in the respective top batsman markets – namely MICHAEL NESER and SIMON HARMER.
The caveat to both selections is that neither are guaranteed starters, particularly Neser, but its money back in that instance, and the South Australian is too big to overlook given he was outstanding in the Ashes last winter and will surely come into consideration at some stage as Australia try to nurse an ageing bowling attack that features three bowlers who have been ravaged by injury in the last year or so.
Neser is a fine all-round cricketer with five First Class hundreds and 18 fifties to his name, including a top score of 176 not out in the County Championship for Glamorgan.
In the Ashes last winter, he was TOP AUSTRALIA BATSMAN in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne with making 35 on a spicy MCG surface.
The current weather forecast could create something similar, if not quite as extreme, and when Neser does get a look in, he’ll slot straight back in at number eight, from where Pat Cummins added valuable runs last week.
The 33/1 (William Hill) available for Neser looks worth taking.
Harmer and Markram key for the Proteas
As does the 50/1 about Harmer, someone whose batting for my money has long been underestimated.
Harmer bowled poorly last week, but he finished 35* with the bat in the first dig when running out of partners in an innings in which the TOP SOUTH AFRICA BATSMAN market was won with 49.
Harmer came into this series on the back of a productive season with the bat in the County Championship for Essex, scoring 480 runs at an average of 32.00 in what was a generally struggling side. He has two First Class hundreds and 36 fifties on his CV.
Moreover, his highest Test score actually came against Australia in the Sydney Test match of 2023, and something similar to that battling 47 in another rescue act might well suffice this week should Australia’s pacers again make early inroads.
I’m happy to chance my arm at such big odds.
MAGNIFICENT MARKRAM! 🌟
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 13, 2025
100 up in the WTC final day 3 🏏 pic.twitter.com/DT1Jd75HjX
Finally, I think there is enough going for AIDEN MARKRAM to back him for MAN OF THE MATCH honours at 14/1.
Markram turned in a strong showing in Durban, making 37 and 75 with the bat and taking three catches in the cordon in the first innings.
That now takes his batting average to an impressive 60.66 against this opposition, with three hundreds and two fifties from just six Tests, and I’d actually argue that his off-spin was underused last week against Australia's army of left-handed batters.
South Africa ought to have learnt their lesson a week on, and Markram has shown countless times before, including in last year’s World Test Championship final, that he is invariably the man to stand up for his country when they do battle with Australia.
Preview posted at 14:00 BST on 16/10/26
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Following victory in Leeds, it’s hard to see Dasun Shanaka earning a recall for the tourists, but should he the get the nod, this is a middle-order finisher who, too, could have things fall his way on Sunday.
