South Africa vs. England, 2nd Test: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

England have 0-1 series lead over South Africa after clinching a 214-run lead in the first Test in Durban. The Proteas have a good record at Newlands, but are in slight disarray and will need a serious effort to bounce back.

Date: Saturday Jan. 2 to Wednesday Jan. 6

Time: 10 a.m. local, 8 a.m. GMT

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK) and SuperSport (South Africa)

Overview

If teams judged their desire to play at a specific venue based on their record there, then South Africa would want to play all their matches at Newlands. Since 1994, they have won 19 out of 27 Tests there and lost just four.

These records will offer a silver lining for a team who have been marred by injuries and bogged down by the loss of form from seemingly all of their key players. South Africa may be forced to ring the changes for the second Test with a number of players struck down by injury.

Dale Steyn’s shoulder pulled up in the first Test, and he will face a late fitness test on Friday to determine his readiness. Kyle Abbott has a tight hamstring and may be rested as a precautionary measure.

South Africa already have cover for Steyn in the squad in the form of young speedster Kagiso Rabada. Hardus Viljoen, another quick, has been called up as cover for Abbott. Viljoen took 20 wickets in the first two rounds of domestic first-class matches and recently bowled 152km/h in a limited-overs match for his franchise.

Chris Morris and Quinton de Kock have also been added to the squad, with the latter the most likely to feature. Bowling has not been South Africa’s problem, it’s the batsmen who have let them down. The most likely change could be either of JP Duminy or Faf du Plessis making room for Quinton de Kock to bolster the batting lineup and give AB de Villiers some relief by taking the gloves.

South Africa showed glimmers of being competitive in the first Test, with Dean Elgar’s century at the top of the order the shining light. They just need to find a little bit of magic to get back on the bike, and considering their magical record at Newlands, who knows what might happen.

Key players

South Africa

Dean Elgar’s became only the second South African batsman in 2015 to score a century, and he will need to build from that. He will most likely still partner the struggling Stiaan van Zyl at the top of the order, so he will need to take a senior player role and guide his partner through this bad patch all while helping set a platform for South Africa.

England

Stuart Broad bowled with pace and accuracy in Durban, a track that doesn’t really offer too much for the speedsters. Cape Town is likely to have a bit more pace in it, and if Broad can exploit this, South Africa’s batting order will have their hands full yet again.

Squads

South Africa

Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Stiaan van Zyl, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Dane Piedt, Dean Elgar, Rilee Rossouw, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Hardus Viljoen, Chris Morris, Quinton de Kock

England

Alastair Cook, Alex Hales, Gary Ballance, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Footitt, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Nick Compton, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Samit Patel.

All information obtained firsthand.