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Day
1 Weather
Showers all day
Temperature 20°C |
Match
Weather
Showers likely on day 2 but sunny and clear on days 3, 4 and 5. |
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Online
Live ball-by-ball coverage on Cricinfo
Television
Sky Sports
2
Radio
Talk Sport - 1053/1089 MW
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Can Matthew Hoggard lift England's ailing bowling attack for one final Test?
© Getty Images |
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Final act of an enthralling series
Just one match remains of perhaps the most consistently compelling series in recent times, but after enduring a mid-series wobble, it is England who have emerged with a series win in their sights. Much, however, will once again rest on Matthew Hoggard, whose 12 wickets secured a stunning final-day victory at the Wanderers. With doubts about the fitness of Flintoff and Jones, and the form of Harmison and Anderson, can Hoggard rise to the occasion for a second match running? If he can't, then South Africa have, in Jacques Kallis and a resurgent Herschelle Gibbs, the players who can put a total on the board, and pressure right back on the English.
Click here for more South Africa v England coverage
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South Africa (probable)
1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Boeta Dippenaar, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Charl Langeveldt / Andre Nel
England (probable)
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Simon Jones, 11 Steve Harmison
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In and Out - The Cricinfo form guide
Your guide to who's hot and who's not ahead of the fifth Test |
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Andrew Flintoff
The big question is whether Freddie’s body can hold out for one last hurrah in South Africa. His side is strained and it looks as if his he will need an operation on his heel sooner rather than later. The wear and tear is showing – at Johannesburg he took 3 for 136 and scored 2 and 7 – but he remains an oh-so-vital talisman for England and is fundamental to the balance of the side. If this is to be his last outing for five months, he will want to sign off in style.
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Centurion Park
 Pitch
A fast surface, but not unpalatable for batsmen. It's more likely to give extra bounce than big swing. The last seven Tests have produced a definite result, with South Africa winning six – and their only loss had more to do with Hansie Cronje than anything else.
Home advantage? In South Africa’s only defeat, Cronje had received a leather jacket and 53,000 Rand (£5000) to help him ensure there was a result. That apart, it's a happy home ground: SA have won the match each time they’ve lost the toss. Even when Graeme Hick had shredded their attack in 1995-96 for 141, England took two full days on an easy-paced pitch to reach 381 before thunderstorms came.
Recent form Although the par score is in the low 300s, South Africa habitually lead by more than a hundred on first innings.
History Centurion hosted its first first-class match in December 1986, and became South Africa's eighth Test venue in 1995. It is the only sports ground in the world which has given its name to a municipality: Centurion, which is a few miles south of Pretoria, is the amalgamation of several local towns. It is the home ground of the Titans, formerly Northern Transvaal, and has a capacity of 20,000.
Records
Batting – Herschelle Gibbs batted nearly eight hours against West Indies in making 192 in 2003-04.
Bowling – Courtney Walsh took 6 for 80 in South Africa's first innings in 1998-99, but couldn't prevent West Indies losing the match by 353 runs and the series 5-0.
Classic Match – The second Test against Sri Lanka in 2002-03 – an unheralded match, but one of the most compelling this decade, as neither side was ever in complete control, and had wonderful performances each day. In the end, South Africa, who led by 125 on first-innings, struggled with Dilhara Fernando's pace and stumbled to 73 for 6 chasing 121, before winning by 3 wickets.
Highest Team score – South Africa posted 604 for 6 declared against West Indies in January 2004, as Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs put on 301 on the first day, their third opening partnership of more than 300.
Lowest Team score – Sri Lanka were bowled out for 119 in three hours on the second day of the third Test in 2000-01.
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