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South Africa will be keen to close out a two-Test series sweep of the West Indies when the sides square off at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg beginning on Wednesday, March 8.
The Proteas recorded an 87-run victory in the teams' first meeting with opener Aiden Markram securing both the Player of the Match award and the Top Batter market with 162 runs in the contest – including a first innings century.
Kagiso Rababa was the Top Bowler as he took 8-94 across the two innings, including a devastating 6-50 in the second innings. For West Indies, Jermaine Blackwood top scored with 116 runs, while Alzzarri Joseph took 7-111 with the ball.
Other key performers in the contest were Kemar Roach (6-118), Anrich Nortje (6-84) and Dean Elgar (72 runs).
Unsurprisingly, South Africa are favoured to win the match at 1/4, with the West Indies a 6/1 shot to cause the upset. The draw is a pricey 8/1, bearing in mind the weather is set fair for the five days in Johannesburg.
Following his performance in Centurion in the First Test, Markram is the bookies' favourite to win the Top Batter market at 11/4. The opener was in fine form across both innings and has a decent record at Wanderers Stadium hitting his highest Test score (152) in 2018. He has, however, failed to pass 50 in his last five innings in Test matches at the ground.
Dean Elgar (10/3) returned to some form in the first Test with a knock of 71 in the first innings. He had failed to reach 50 in his previous 11 innings prior to that score, and his record is patchy in Johannesburg – he has just three half-centuries and one ton in 16 innings in Tests at the venue.
Other South African options include Keegan Petersen (7/1) – who has 80 runs in his lone Test at Wanderers Stadium - and Temba Bavuma (7/1) – who has two 50s in 12 innings at the venue in Tests.
For West Indies, Kraigg Brathwaite (13/2) is the lead contender for the Top Batter stakes. He is in a barren run of form scoring just 18 runs in his last three Test innings. Prior to that he'd scored two centuries and three 50s in nine innings.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul (9/1) maintained his record of reaching double figures in every Test innings so far in his short career, but with scores of 22 and 10 in the first meeting, caution is advised. Jermaine Blackwood (9/1) may be the safer bet following his performance in the First Test.
With the ball, Rabada (7/2) is favoured to repeat his performance in Centurion and record the best bowling figures. The paceman has recorded the Proteas' best figures in three of his last seven Test matches and has 23 wickets across his last seven innings. Rabada has appeared in six Tests at Wanderers Stadium and has taken five or more wickets in five of those, so the O4.5 match wickets at 4/6 is in play.
With no Anrich Nortje, Rabada could be a lone wolf with other options priced high – Gerald Coetzee (15/2), Marco Jansen (8/1) - who did take 7-98 in his only Test appearance in Johannesburg - and Keshav Maharaj (9/1) - who has just five wickets in three Test appearances at Wanderers.
After fine performances in the First Test, Kemar Roach (5/1) and Alzzarri Jospeh (11/2) must earn some considerations amid their dominance of the South African batting line-up last time out. Joseph (O3.5 match wickets, 4/6) and Roach (O3.5 match wickets, 8/11) are certainly worth consideration.