1st Test: South Africa vs New Zealand at Johannesburg
South Africa host New Zealand in another short series with this test series the same length as the Australia-Sri Lanka contest, that length being two tests.
South Africa haven't changed their test line-up, with the same eleven that faced Pakistan at home taking on New Zealand in this game. Still no room for Shaun Pollock with Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn preferred to take the new ball. Andre Nel will once again be the third seam bowler.
New Zealand have their own problems to worry about. The batting line-up is short on experience with Stephen Fleming heading into the game with a thumb complaint, sustained when fielding against South Africa "A" in an earlier tour game. Michael Papps and Craig Cumming have little test match experience and adding to that inexperience is Ross Taylor who is expected to make his debut, slotting in at number five.
They pale in compaison to South Africa's top six who have 63 test match centuries between them. Jacques Kallis is also in cracking form and will be a thorn in the side to the New Zealand attack should he get going.
Another problem the Kiwis face is that they haven't played a test for eleven months. Their last test was ironically against Australia's opponent, Sri Lanka, who won that game by 217 runs. John Bracewell, the NZ coach isn't worries though, stressing that his chargers need to take the game ball-by-ball.
The pitch looks to be a seamers one but should dry out as the test continues. Paul Harris and Daniel Vettori could spin up a storm later in the week if conditions go their way.
This should be an intriguing contest. South Africa looked the goods against Pakistan last month, New Zealand will need to get the cobwebs out early if they want to challenge here, ther relatively new batting line-up will need to sttle quickly.
South Africa XI: 1 *Graeme Smith, 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 +Mark Boucher, 8 Andre Nel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
New Zealand XV: *Daniel Vettori, Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, +Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond, Michael Mason, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin, Lou Vincent, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel.
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Mark Benson
3rd Umpire: TBA
Weather:
(All Temperatures in Degrees Celcius)
Thursday: Showers, 20.
Friday: Sunny, 24.
Saturday: Sunny, 26.
Sunday: Partly Cloudy, 23.
Monday: Mostly Sunny, 25.
Game starts at 5:30pm AWDT (10:30am local time, 8:30am GMT).
South Africa host New Zealand in another short series with this test series the same length as the Australia-Sri Lanka contest, that length being two tests.
South Africa haven't changed their test line-up, with the same eleven that faced Pakistan at home taking on New Zealand in this game. Still no room for Shaun Pollock with Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn preferred to take the new ball. Andre Nel will once again be the third seam bowler.
New Zealand have their own problems to worry about. The batting line-up is short on experience with Stephen Fleming heading into the game with a thumb complaint, sustained when fielding against South Africa "A" in an earlier tour game. Michael Papps and Craig Cumming have little test match experience and adding to that inexperience is Ross Taylor who is expected to make his debut, slotting in at number five.
They pale in compaison to South Africa's top six who have 63 test match centuries between them. Jacques Kallis is also in cracking form and will be a thorn in the side to the New Zealand attack should he get going.
Another problem the Kiwis face is that they haven't played a test for eleven months. Their last test was ironically against Australia's opponent, Sri Lanka, who won that game by 217 runs. John Bracewell, the NZ coach isn't worries though, stressing that his chargers need to take the game ball-by-ball.
The pitch looks to be a seamers one but should dry out as the test continues. Paul Harris and Daniel Vettori could spin up a storm later in the week if conditions go their way.
This should be an intriguing contest. South Africa looked the goods against Pakistan last month, New Zealand will need to get the cobwebs out early if they want to challenge here, ther relatively new batting line-up will need to sttle quickly.
South Africa XI: 1 *Graeme Smith, 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 +Mark Boucher, 8 Andre Nel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
New Zealand XV: *Daniel Vettori, Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, +Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond, Michael Mason, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin, Lou Vincent, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel.
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Mark Benson
3rd Umpire: TBA
Weather:
(All Temperatures in Degrees Celcius)
Thursday: Showers, 20.
Friday: Sunny, 24.
Saturday: Sunny, 26.
Sunday: Partly Cloudy, 23.
Monday: Mostly Sunny, 25.
Game starts at 5:30pm AWDT (10:30am local time, 8:30am GMT).
