Australia v South Africa 1st Test betting tips – December 17-21

The summer of Test cricket kicks off in earnest this Saturday as Australia and South Africa lock horns at the Gabba.

The Aussies come into this clash off an absolute non-contest against the West Indies, who followed up their spirited effort in Perth with an insipid display in Adelaide.

A quick glance at the stats for that series tells you everything you need to know.

Three Australian batters averaged better than 100 over the two Tests, led by Marnus Labuschagne with some 512 runs and three centuries in four innings.

As such, it is no surprise to see Labuschagne top the markets for top Australian runscorer in the first innings ($3.50) and player of the match ($6) at BetOnline.

The bowlers did what they had to do against the Windies, with Nathan Lyon (12 wickets at 21.16) and Mitchell Starc (9 wickets at 21.44) the standouts.

Nevertheless, the hosts come into this series with a few questions to be answered.

David Warner’s future is up in the air after an indifferent start to the summer, but the more pressing concern is the makeup of the bowling attack.

While Pat Cummins is expected to return this weekend after missing the Adelaide Test, Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out with a quad injury.

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Scott Boland is the frontrunner to fill in for the skipper, although Michael Neser — who would be a popular pick to play in front of his home crowd in Queensland — did his chances no harm with five wickets in Adelaide.

The left-field option is Lance Morris, the emerging West Australian tearaway, if the selectors decide to fight fire with fire.

It is rare that an Australian attack is outmatched for pace, especially on home soil, but that looks to be the situation in this series.

In Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen, the South Africans boast four quicks who are capable of bowling 140kph — and well beyond, in the case of Rabada and Nortje.

While they should give the Aussie bats a stern test, the big question is whether the Proteas will put up enough runs to be competitive.

Not a single player in the South African squad averages better than 40 with the bat in Test cricket, with captain Dean Elgar the best of the bunch at 38.83 over 79 matches.

The recent series in England was low-scoring on the whole, but it did highlight South Africa’s struggles with the bat.

In those three matches, only once did a South African player pass 50 in an innings — Sarel Erwee’s match-winning 73 in the first Test.

While conditions here are bound to be more batter-friendly than in the UK, the tourists will need to lift their game if they are to keep up with an Aussie lineup that comes in with plenty of confidence.

Australia vs South Africa top runscorer tip – 1st Test

There are strong cases to be made for Steve Smith or Usman Khawaja topping the runscoring charts in Brisbane, but it is hard to look past the man of the moment. Marnus Labuschagne averages better than 94 in Tests at his home ground, and coming off three tons in four hits, he looks determined to keep piling on the runs as he faces the nation of his birth.

Australia vs South Africa 1st Test match prediction

While these two bowling attacks are well matched, the disparity in the batting lineups is alarming. Get on Australia to notch another win at the Gabba.

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