SOUTH AFRICA V ENGLAND 2ND TEST: All you need to know

The series heads to Newlands as England hope to bounce back from defeat in Centurion against a fired-up Proteas side

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What is it?

England's tour of South Africa continues to Cape Town as the tourists look to rebuild following a sickness-ravaged four-day defeat in Centurion.

What's the schedule?

FIRST TEST: SuperSport Park, Centurion – South Africa won by 107 runs

SECOND TEST: Newlands, Cape Town (Friday, January 3 to Tuesday, January 7, 8.30am GMT)

THIRD TEST: St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth (Thursday, January 16 to Monday, January 20, 8am GMT)

FOURTH TEST: New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (Friday, January 24 to Tuesday, January 28)

What are England's chances?

James Anderson drawing first blood by dismissing Dean Elgar with the very first ball of his 150th Test match was about as good as it got for England in a miserable series opener in Centurion.

The match may have been only the third Test in charge for Chris Silverwood, but he is not short of things to consider changing as the tourists try to change course after a 2019 summer where white-ball success at a home World Cup allowed six crushing Test losses in 12 outings to go largely under the radar.

Albeit contending with illness wiping out 10 members of the playing staff either before or during the game, the key point of difference between the two sides came as England lost their last seven wickets for 39 and 64 runs in the first and second innings respectively, compared to South Africa's efforts of 187 and 210.

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Rory Burns lets out his frustration after falling for 84 in a chase of 376

Silverwood and Joe Root's decisions on Boxing Day morning to again field a side without a full-time spin option and to give South Africa the first chance to bat were ones that caused a fair helping of confusion for onlookers, and weak dismissals throughout the lineup – particularly from Jonny Bairstow and Dom Sibley – quickly squashed any hopes of the batsmen launching a Headingley-esque comeback.

A glimmer of hope for the tourists will come in their record in South Africa – in the same fixture four years ago, Ben Stokes lashed the second-fastest double century in Test history, and it is now 20 years since they last lost a Test series on the continent.

But it will take a lot more than fond recollections of the past to turn this England setup back into the world-leading force of a decade ago, and Root's men will feel significant pressure to turn in a better performance to start 2020 as they hope to go on.

Who's in and who's out?

Despite a flu-like illness decimating England's side during the early portions of the tour – at one point earlier this week, Dom Sibley had become the 11th player affected – it seemed that England are nearing a full contingent as the series heads to Cape Town.

However, Joe Root has confirmed that Jack Leach remains absent having also been hospitalised during the tour of New Zealand last month with a case of gastroentiritis.

It was not long before Rory Burns then fell victim to an ankle injury during a pre-match warmup game of football. The opener has since been ruled out for the remainder of the series with ligament damage, with Kent's Zak Crawley set to get his first chance at the top of the order should it rule him out of Friday's match.

Somerset's Dom Bess and Craig Overton remain on hand having been called up as emergency cover, with Bess looking set to leapfrog Matt Parkinson as England seek to field a specialist spinner in their matchday XI.

After five second-innings wickets last week, Jofra Archer is the most likely member of the seam attack to miss out after suffering with an elbow injury between the fixtures. Sibley too had been a mid-week injury concern, however he has now been given the all-clear to play.

Among the players who missed out last week due to illness, it is Ollie Pope that has the best chance of making the matchday XI. The Surrey youngster spent much of the Centurion Test in quarantine, but was fit enough to train by the eventual final day and would come in as a straight swap for Jonny Bairstow.

Touring squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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Dom Bess is set to jump county teammate Jack Leach for the spinner's spot in the XI

What about South Africa?

After months of turmoil both in administration and on the field, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis appeared more relieved than anything when his side snapped a five-Test losing streak in Centurion on Sunday.

The match was the first under the coaching tenure of former wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, and the win was secured by resilience from Quinton de Kock and strong performances from across the seam attack of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Vernon Philander, who will end his international career with this series before joining Somerset on a Kolpak contract.

While things were not so rosy for the top-order batsmen – including Dean Elgar falling to the first ball of the match and Aiden Markram's series ending with a finger injury – there was significant promise in newcomers Zubayr Hamza and Rassie van der Dussen, and the hosts can also call on the experience of Temba Bavuma in the middle-order after his recovery from injury.

The Proteas have already confirmed that 30-year-old opener Pieter Malan will debut in Markram's place at a ground where he averages 55.42 with eight centuries in 21 first-class games, while Titans batsman Keegan Petersen becomes the fifth uncapped player in the 17-man squad after hitting a century for South Africa A against England in a tour match last month.

Dane Paterson, Beuran Hendricks and Rudi Second complete the set of new faces, while white-ball regular Andile Phehlukwayo looks set to remain on the sidelines after missing out on the all-rounder slot to debutant Dwaine Pretorius at SuperSport Park.

However, despite the morale-boosting victory in that match, du Plessis and his team will be keen to ensure the momentum does not slip against a resurgent England, who have not lost back-to-back Tests in South Africa since 1957.

Squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Beuran Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Pieter Malan, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Keegan Petersen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second, Rassie van der Dussen

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Anrich Nortje and Rassie van der Dussen made crucial contributions in their first Test on home soil

What will the weather be like?

Temperatures are set to sit in the mid-20s throughout the match, with some clouds emerging over the weekend and light chances of showers on day five.

How can I follow it?

As always, England fans can watch the game live on Sky Sports Main Event (Sky 401, Virgin 501, TalkTalk 402, BT 402) and Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Virgin 504, TalkTalk 405). Daily coverage begins from 7am GMT.

Viewers without Sky Sports packages can watch the coverage live online through Now TV, which is available through computers, mobile devices, games consoles and selected smart TVs.

Radio coverage will be available exclusively on TalkSPORT 2.

The Cricketer will be providing full coverage of the series via our social media channels with regular score updates, while our website will publish daily reports throughout each Test.

What are the odds?

South Africa's impressive display in Centurion has them sitting as 19/20 favourites for a follow-up win with Dafabet, though England are not far behind on 5/4. A draw can be had at odds of 6/1.

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