This weekend sees one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most exciting series get underway, with South Africa heading to Australia for a three-match Test series accompanied by three ODIs. With plenty of history between the two sides, plus World Test Championship points up for grabs, this will be a hotly contested series.
The contest begins on Saturday with the first of three Tests, where the two sides enter in entirely different forms. South Africa haven’t played Test cricket in three months or any form of the game in six weeks since they crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2022. Australia, on the other hand, have trounced both England and the West Indies in that time and are red-hot at the moment. We bring our predictions for Australia vs. South Africa 2022-23 with the best expert picks and predictions ahead of the first Test this weekend.
| Tournament: | South Africa tour of Australia 2022/23, Three Tests and Three ODIs |
| Venue: | Stadiums across Australia |
| Date: | Saturday 17 December to Tuesday 17 January, 2022-2023 |
Here’s a look at the cricket odds for Australia vs. South Africa based on live cricket betting ahead of this weekend’s Test match:
Those who want to bet on 1st Test Australia vs. South Africa will see that the odds are heavily skewed in favor of Australia for this first clash. Though these two sides are No.1 and No.2 in the World Test Championship table, the reality is, Australia have been much more active recently, hence the advantage given them in online betting here.
Many sportsIn-play modeLive streaming25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsLive bettingMany sportsFast payoutsSouth Africa and Australia have a deep history of playing cricket against each other, with South Africa first touring Australian shores way back in 1910-11.
Since their first match in 1902, the two sides have played a total of 203 games across the three different formats, with Australia winning 114 and South Africa coming out on top 85 times. Recently, here’s how the results have looked between the two sides:
Part of what makes this series so exciting is the fact that South Africa and Australia have not faced each other in Test matches in almost five years. The most recent series was canceled due to Covid-19, making their last Test match in March 2018.
In Tests this year, Australia have just the solitary loss to Sri Lanka. Outside of this, they’ve accrued five wins and three draws, results showing them sitting atop both the ICC Test rankings and the WTC points table. Most recently, they’ve comprehensively defeated the West Indies in Australia, winning by margins of 164 runs and 419 runs.
The year began strongly for South Africa with two seven-wicket wins over India in January. They then lost by whopping innings and 276 runs against New Zealand before bouncing back to draw the series. Two big wins against Bangladesh followed, as well as the only win a side has had against England this year. However, the last two Tests South Africa played have been abysmal, losing by an innings and 85 runs, then nine wickets to England three months ago.
Fans may not be able to bet on the Cricket World Cup anymore; however, great opportunities still abound for those eager to place a few more cricket bets in 2022. Here are some of our top 2022 Australia vs. South Africa predictions ahead of the first Test match on Saturday:
While this series overall will likely be a real arm-wrestle between two quality sides with hard-to-predict even the 2nd Test, it would be no surprise if South Africa have a slow start and drop the first clash to an in-form Australia. The nation hasn’t played any form of cricket since crashing out of the T20 World Cup 2022 six weeks ago. The Proteas will likely find it tough to hit the ground running and be competitive against an Australia that has just been scoring runs at will against the West Indies over the past fortnight.
With odds of 1.50 (1/2), this isn’t the most lucrative bet, but it is a fairly solid one, given each side’s momentum in this clash.
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne is a problem for South Africa and the rest of the Australian batting order. The top-order batsman is single-handedly stalling the careers of his colleagues by preventing them from getting any chances to prove themselves. In the West Indies series alone, Labuschagne scored over 500 runs, with scores of 204, 104*, 163, and 31, forcing Australian sports bookies to review their odds for this series.
While there’s plenty of competition in this Australian side currently for the top run scorer – Usman Khawaja is rounding into form and is yet to get a big score. Travis Head is a recent centurion, as is Steve Smith – this is a man thrives in Australian conditions and sees the red ball like a beach ball at the moment.
You wouldn’t want to bet against Marnus Labuschagne knuckling in and churning out a big score in the first innings here again. Also, it is hard to predict how will come to the 3rd Test in the series as well, but with a lucrative return of 4.00 (3/1) here, this cricket prediction is a great bet.
In a South African side that yet again underwhelmed in the T20 World Cup 2022, Anrich Nortje was one of the few shining lights for his nation. The fast bowler claimed 11 wickets and constantly threatened batsmen with his accurate line and length. No surprises South African bookmakers mostly believe in his throwing abilities on this tour.
Expect Nortje to come out and bowl well from the get-go here in Australia, given that he’s already used to the conditions and has already performed well on Australian pitches this summer. Dislodging the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith may prove a tougher task than some Nortje faced in the T20 World Cup, but he’s still South Africa’s best bet to lead from the front in the bowling department.
This weekend marks the beginning of one of the most hotly anticipated cricket series of the Southern Hemisphere summer, with South Africa returning to Australia for a three-Test and three one-day international series. Plenty is on the line here, with the top two teams in the WTC jostling for position. Our cricket predictions are on the side of the Aussies, who will have the better of South Africa in the first Test due to their current form and the Protea’s rustiness, but tune in on Saturday night to find out.
