England vs South Africa Test Series Preview 2

The second Cricket-Stats preview of the forthcoming Test series between England and South Africa will focus on the match up between the top five batsmen in either side. Both teams come into the series with a settled top order and both these line ups have been the backbone of their sides recent successes. In the face of two of the fiercest bowling attacks in Test cricket the top five which performs best is likely to decide the outcome of the series.

The Openers

Opening the innings is one of the most difficult tasks when playing Test cricket in England. England boast a strong pair of Cook and Strauss who have provided a solid platform for the England side in recent years with Cook in particular shining over the past 18 months.

The South African side possess one of the finest openers of the modern era in Graeme Smith and have recently found an outstanding partner for him the shape of Alviro Petersen.

This next graphic compares the combined records of the two opening pairs in a variety of areas and shows which side has the advantage in that metric.

This graphic shows that, statistically speaking, the South Africans have the advantage in terms of the opening pair. The only area in which England are ahead of the Proteas is the number of 50 – 99 run scores they make. This however may not be a positive when the fact that the South African openers make more centuries is taken into account. Both sides reach 50 or more approximately 31% of the time but the South African openers have a better conversion rate of 50's to 100's.

Another noticeable difference is in the strike rates of the two with the South African pair scoring at more than 11 runs more per hundred balls. This is the equivalent of a run rate that is 0.68 runs per over better than the England pair.

Numbers 3,4,5

The 3,4 and 5 positions are possibly the most eye catching match up of the whole series. The England side of Trott, Pietersen and Bell are matched against an equally impressive South African trio of Amla, Kallis and de Villiers.

In terms of the ICC ranking the South Africans have the edge in this match up. De Villiers is the third ranked batsman, Kallis fourth and Amla sixth whilst none of the England men make in into the top ten.

This graphic shows that, statistically speaking, the ICC rankings give a fair reflection on the comparative records of the two top orders. The South Africans are ahead in 5 of the 7 metrics. They have a lead of more than 3.5 runs per innings in terms of their combined batting averages and a higher rate of 50s and hundreds scored.

Nevertheless, the figures for England are very strong. In spite of South Africa leading in terms of 50+ scores the England trio still reach 50 in one in 3 of the innings they play. They are also more aggressive with a strike rate that is nearly 7.5 runs per hundred balls better than their counter parts.

This analysis shows that in terms of past performance the South Africans hold the advantage when it comes to the top order. However both sides have strong combined statistics and in most areas the sides are virtually neck and neck. Although the South Africans have the edge, they will know that it is by the finest of margins.

  Subscribe to the Cricket-Stats.com Blog