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17th Jul 2012 | Cricket

England v South Africa Cricket Tips: Jacques Kallis

Averages over 100 runs per match in the last two years and one big innings could win the market.

England face South Africa in a fascinating Test series, the only shame is it’s only three matches long. In such a quick fire series it pays to be slightly more cautious with our stakes but there is still value to be had.

Following our usual pattern of analysis, I’ll be focusing on ‘runs per match’ as opposed to ‘batting average’ as we are looking for the leading run scorer in the top batsman market.

England Batting Last 2 Years
England Batsman Average


South Africa Batting Last 2 Years
South Africa Batsman Average

Ignoring JP Duminy because of the small sample size of his data, there are two outstanding candidates – Alastair Cook and Jacques Kallis. 

The England opener has enjoyed a fantastic 24 months and with a 13-run advantage over Jonathan Trott he looks a good bet. However he has to face Dale Steyn with the new-ball. He runs the danger of being out cheaply and with only three matches in the series, he is best avoided. The rest of the batting line-up look evenly matched therefore it is best to overlook the top England batsman market.

The real value lies in the top South Africa batsman market. Jacques Kallis is ten runs ahead of his nearest rival, but AB de Villiers is likely to be on wicket-keeping duty after the unfortunate injury to Mark Boucher. That rather scuppers his chances, leaving Kallis the standout candidate.

The 36-year-old all-rounder has being enjoying an Indian summer to his career. At the start of the year, he scored 224 versus Sri Lanka in Cape Town and followed that with 113 against New Zealand in Dunedin. When he gets in, he scores big runs. In this short series it might take only one significant innings to win the market and at 15/4 (Boylesports) he is a good bet to be top South Africa batsman.

1pt Jacques Kallis Top South Africa Batsman 15/4 with Boylesports
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Odds correct at time of publishing: 17:21 17th Jul, 2012 but subject to change

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