kagiso rabada
Kagiso Rabada picked up the player of the match award in the first Test at Perth getty

Australia take on South Africa at home in the second Test at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Saturday (12 November). The visitors lead the three-match series 1-0.

Where to watch live

Match starts at 4.30am GMT. Live TV coverage of the game is available on BT Sport Europe and BT Sport Europe HD. Click here for the live streaming link.

Overview

Australia have not had the easiest time off late and they continued to struggle as South Africa thrashed them in the first Test at Perth by a margin of 177 runs. The hosts were completely outplayed by a dominant Proteas, who were without key bowler Dale Steyn as his shoulder injury resurfaced.

David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Peter Neville and to an extent Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood were the only players that contributed to the team's cause while the rest had a disastrous outing on the field.

Coach Darren Lehmann is known to give his players some leeway and he has done the same here confirming that underperforming players will be given another chance to get back into form. The hosts will be without Shaun Marsh and Peter Siddle who have been ruled out, with opener Joe Burns and seamer Joe Mennie being called up to the squad.

The last time Australia won a home series after losing the first Test was way back in 1968, but with the visitors not losing here since 2005-06, the hosts will need to play to their potential if they want a positive result at Hobart.

South Africa came into this series on an upturn of form beating New Zealand in a Test series as well as whitewashing Australia 5-0 in the recently concluded One Day International (ODI) series and it showed with the team looking confident from ball one of the Perth Test.

In JP Duminy, Dean Elgar (both scored centuries), Kagiso Rabada (named player of the match), Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, the visitors have players who made important contributions with the bat and ball, and this helped them win the game.

Coach Russell Dominigo will be delighted by the way the team stepped up in AB de Villiers' absence, which also helped overcome the failure of Hashim Amla with the bat and Steyn being ruled out due to injury midway through the game.

This will be the first time since 2004 that South Africa take the field without either Steyn or de Villiers, but with youngsters stepping up, it does not seem like their absence would be an issue.

Prediction

South Africa to win

Betting odds (betfair)

  • Australia to win: 3
  • Draw: 5/8
  • South Africa to win: 7/2

Team news

Australia

Possible XI: David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood, Nathan Lyon, Joe Mennie.

South Africa

Possible XI: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott.

Australia South Africa