Centurion poser for Proteas

JOHANNESBURG: Only Marlon Aronstam (in conjunction with Hansie Cronje) and Mitchell Johnson have been able to beat South Africa in Test matches at SuperSport Park.

Rain on two occasions and Graham Onions on another, stopped SA beating England. Otherwise SA usually win in Centurion, doing so 17 times in 22 Tests.

The Proteas enjoy SuperSport Park, venue for the second Test against India and its surrounds.

With grass embankments accommodating two thirds of spectators, the atmosphere is usually festive and because the pitch is traditionally quick and bouncy, the pace of the game is accelerated and as the first Test showed SA enjoy those kind of conditions.

Unlike Newlands, where Evan Flint, had to prepare the surface to the home team’s needs while working around the numerous challenges resulting from the drought in the Western Cape, Bryan Bloy, SuperSport Park’s groundsman has had normal weather on the Highveld.

There was a heatwave last weekend, but cooler temperatures in the days leading up to Saturday’s Test, should ensure he gets the surface matching the Proteas’ demands.

The long-term forecast for the duration of the match is for extremely hot weather on the weekend – temperatures are expected in the low 30 degree Celsius range for the first three days – which may impact on how much grass is left on the surface.

Usually Centurion can be a touch slow on the first day, but as the sun beats down the pitch hardens, gets quicker and is a wonderful venue for shotmaking and quick bowling. With that much heat being forecast, the pitch should break up bringing variable bounce into the equation and the possibility that spinners may have a role to play.

Paul Harris is the most successful spinner there with 13 wickets in four Tests, but it is a venue where the seamers dominate.

Dale Steyn, out for the remainder of the Indian series with a severely bruised heel, is unsurprisingly the most successful bowler at SuperSport Park with 56 wickets in nine Tests, while Makhaya Ntini has claimed 54 in 10 matches.

The ground has recently witnessed two of the finest fast bowling performances seen on SA soil. Johnson destroyed the Proteas with a stunning display in 2014 claiming careerbest match figures of 12/127 as Australia won the first Test of that series by 281 runs.

Kagiso Rabada, newly promoted to the world’s No 1 Test bowler, also recorded his career-best figures there against England two seasons ago, picking up 13/144 in the fourth Test of that series.

However SuperSport Park hasn’t been a minefield for batsmen; Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla have scored double hundreds there – Herschelle Gibbs came within eight runs of 200 there too – while AB de Villiers set the record for the fastest Test century by a South African, taking just 75 balls against India in 2010.

The overwhelming majority of teams winning the toss at Centurion choose to field; 15 times in 22 Tests, emerging victorious six times, losing six, while there were the three draws against England.

In that “Johnson Test” in 2014, Graeme Smith had wanted to bat first, but was persuaded to have a bowl, a decision that ultimately provided Australia with an advantage as despite the presence of grass on the surface, the pace was a touch slower and the Australians were able to post 397 in that first innings, with Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith making hundreds. By the time the pitch hardened, Johnson was able to wreak havoc.

The look of the surface will have a major bearing then, on the make up of the two teams. The South Africans of course have to make at least one change given Steyn’s injury, and if coach Ottis Gibson is to be believed, it will be another quick bowler as a replacement.

Lungi Ngidi has two training sessions to convince Gibson – who admitted he’d only heard “a lot of good things,” about the 21-year-old and wanted to have look at him – that he is capable of making a Test debut at his home ground.

Given Gibson’s preference to use the Proteas’ “physicality in terms of our pace,” – unless Ngidi has two awesome training sessions – it will come down to one of Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo. While the former is capable of touching speeds in excess of 140km/h, Phehlukwayo, while 10 kilometres per hour slower through the air, offers more control and at least has played more than just T20 cricket in the last few months, which is all that Morris has played since returning from a back injury.

Once again, it will be an intriguing selection conundrum for Gibson and Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis.