In-form South Africa eye historic win over Paine's Australia

Overview

**South Africa v Australia**New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
4th Test
Friday 30 March; 10.00am local, 8.00 GMT

After a hectic week where the ball-tampering investigation overshadowed the four-Test series between hosts South Africa and Australia, cricket will take centre stage once again in Johannesburg. The final game of the series with South Africa 2-1 up, having won the third Test in Cape Town, provides the possibility of an exciting finish to an intense series.

While the hosts come into the game high on confidence after winning two Tests in a row, Australia will have to do without two of their more experienced batsmen, former captain Steven Smith and David Warner, who have been banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia (CA) in the wake of their involvement in ball-tampering and breaching CA's Code of Conduct.

Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft has also been handed a nine-month ban for using sandpaper to alter the conditions of the ball.

Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Glenn Maxwell have been called up as replacements for Smith, Warner and Bancroft.

Australia's challenge is to regroup under a new captain, Tim Paine. It is to be seen whether the controversy will spur them on or push them on the back foot. The visitors will be relieved that their bowling unit has come good even in defeats, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all among the wickets.

The batting, though, has been a problem and it resurfaced in Cape Town once again, when the team was bowled out for 107 while chasing a target of 430 runs.

Batting collapses – Australia went from 150/4 to 175/8 in the first innings in Cape Town before being bowled out for 255 – have cost the visitors several crucial sessions in the series and it will be something they will look to address with the influx of three fresh batsmen in the squad.

In the absence of Smith and Warner, senior batsmen such as Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja and Maxwell will have to step up and take the responsibility of scoring big runs.

Among the batsmen who are present in the squad for the fourth Test, Mitchell Marsh is the top run-scorer with 172 runs from three games at 28.66. The average in the mid-20s explains the batting woes that Australia have faced.

South Africa, on the other hand, will look to build on their imperious run after recovering from the early jitters they faced in Durban. This Test may also be Morne Morkel's last, if he plays, as the fast bowler has announced his retirement.

AB de Villiers, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar – with 352, 291 and 233 runs respectively from three matches – occupy the top three positions in the list of leading run-scorers in this series. All three of them have scored a century each so far. Markram hit a counter-attacking 143 in the second innings in Durban, de Villiers scored a first-innings 126 in Port Elizabeth while Elgar carried his bat with 141 runs to his name in South Africa's first innings in Cape Town.

Kagiso Rabada leads the wicket-takers' chart with 20 wickets at 18.70 followed by Keshav Maharaj, who has 13 wickets at 33.30, and everything looks nicely set up for South Africa's first home Test series win over Australia since 1970.

Players to watch

Pat Cummins (Australia): 24-year-old Pat Cummins has risen out of the shadows of senior pros Starc and Hazlewood and is the joint second-highest wicket-taker after Rabada with 13 wickets at 25.46. His spell of 4/78 in the first innings in Cape Town helped Australia restrict South Africa to 311 after the hosts were comfortably placed at 220/2 at one stage. He picked up three wickets in the second innings as well to finish with seven in the match. Cummins's ability to swing the ball at pace makes him an integral part of the Australian attack and because of his height, he may use the extra bounce available at the Wanderers to his advantage.

Dean Elgar (South Africa): The South African opening batsman has been a solid presence at the top of the order for the hosts and has, on most occasions, successfully navigated the threat of the new ball by soaking in deliveries at the start of the innings. That, in turn, has made life easier for the middle-order batsmen. Elgar carried his bat in the first innings in Cape Town and was the reason why South Africa managed to put up a total in excess of 300. His team will expect nothing but the same from Elgar in Johannesburg as well, a venue where he recently scored a masterful second-innings 86 against India in January.

Conditions
Thunderstorms have been forecast for the last two days of this Test while scattered showers are expected on Sunday. The fans may be in for a stop-and-start fixture, but the first two days are expected to be sunny. The pitch at the Wanderers assisted the bowlers the last time South Africa played a Test, against India in January, and batsmen had been made to work hard for their runs. Run-scoring may not be easy this time around as well.

Squads

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers
Australia: Tim Paine (c, wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc