England v South Africa, 2nd npower Test, Headingley

Win the toss, win the match

S Rajesh

July 17, 2008

From a venue which has now produced six successive draws in Tests, England and South Africa move to one which has seen nine consecutive results - if past trends are any indication, expect one of the teams to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series after the game. The last time a Test in Headingley ended in a draw was way back in 1996, when Pakistan and England didn't even finish three innings between them. Since then, though, England have won six times, including thrice in a row, but the last team to beat them was South Africa, by 191 runs in 2003. (Click here for all results at Headingley.) Overall, South Africa have lost six times in 11 games, but five of those losses were before their readmission into international cricket.

Unlike at Lord's, where all the England batsmen average more than 50, the numbers are mixed for them here. Kevin Pietersen has shone in his two Tests, scoring two centuries, including a double, in three innings. For the rest, though, the venue has been less generous. Andrew Flintoff, who is set to resume his Test career, has particularly bizarre figures here - his first four innings here didn't yield a single run, as he got ducks against South Africa and India. In his next three innings, though, he has notched up half-centuries, getting to within six of his hundred against New Zealand in 2004.

Among the South African top seven, only four have played at Headingley, but none of them have numbers they'll be proud of. Jacques Kallis has played four innings here, but none have fetched him a score of more than 41. Mark Boucher has fared even worse while Graeme Smith managed just 16 runs in two innings in 2003.

Kallis will still have fond memories of the ground, though, for the last time he played here, he destroyed England's batting line-up with his seam and swing. Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Ed Smith and Flintoff fell to him at least once in the match as he returned figures of 9 for 92, leading a 191-run thrashing of England. His 6 for 54 in the second innings of the game remains his best figures in a Test innings. Makhaya Ntini hasn't done badly either - his nine wickets have come at less than 25.

Ryan Sidebottom is easily the most successful at this ground among England's current bowlers: in his only Test here, against West Indies last year, he took four wickets in each innings as England completed a massive victory.

Over the last five Tests, pace bowlers have done better than spinners, but the difference isn't as much as one might expect: fast bowlers concede more than 35 runs per wicket, and only two of them, Kallis and Pakistan's Umar Gul, have taken five-fors in this period.

If past trends are any indication, the toss could play a vital role: the last five Tests have all been won by the team winning the toss. The coin spun England's way in their last three Tests here, while South Africa and India were the lucky teams in the two previous matches. In fact, since 1993, only two out of 13 matches have been won by the team losing the toss.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo

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Matches

England v South Africa at Leeds

Players/Umpires

Jacques Kallis

Kevin Pietersen

Ryan Sidebottom

Series/Tournaments

South Africa tour of England

Teams

England

South Africa