South Africa face New Zealand in decider

Centurion: South Africa and New Zealand go into a one-match shootout for series honours when they meet in the second and final Test starting at SuperSport Park in Centurion Saturday.

South Africa and New Zealand go into a one-match shootout for series honours when they meet in the second and final Test starting at SuperSport Park in Centurion Saturday.

The Proteas can nudge up one place to sixth in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings if they win, while the Black Caps will remain fifth irrespective of the result.

But the reputation of Test cricket is at much at stake as rankings points after a farcical first Test in Durban where less than 100 overs of cricket were played before a wet, soft outfield prevented any play on the last three days.

It is the first time Test cricket has been played in South Africa in August, almost two months before the usual start of the season.

Centurion has been a fortress for South Africa in Test cricket, with the home side having won 16 of the 21 Tests at the ground.

Their only two losses were against England in a contrived result in 1999-2000, engineered by the late Hansie Cronje before he was banned from cricket because of his association with bookmakers, and against Australia in 2013-14.

New Zealand have an advantage in terms of match practice after playing and winning two Tests in Zimbabwe before coming to South Africa.

Teams from

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Dane Piedt, Vernon Philander, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris, Dean Elgar, Jean-Paul Duminy, Quinton de Kock (Wicket Keeper), Stephen Cook, Temba Bavuma, Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Stiaan van Zyl

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (Captain), Tim Southee, Henry Nicholls, Mark Craig, Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, BJ Watling (Wicket Keeper), Luke Ronchi (WK), Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner

Match facts
27-31 August 2016
Start time: 1000 local (08:00 GMT)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
West Indies vs Bangladesh - 3rd T20I South Africa vs Pakistan - 2nd ODI 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 21, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan - December 22, 12:00 GMT 2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 232 runs 3rd Test - Australia v India at Brisbane Match drawn

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He leapfrogs R Ashwin and James Anderson to take the top slot

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