South Africa look to Faf du Plessis against England

Nottingham: South Africa will hope the return of captain Faf du Plessis leads to a revival in their fortunes in the second Test against England at Nottingham's Trent Bridge starting Friday.

The captain missed the series opener following the birth of his first child but returned in time to see the Proteas suffer a convincing 211-run defeat inside four days at Lord's as England went 1-0 up in the four-match series.

Dropped catches and wickets off no-balls cost South Africa dear, while their second innings collapse to 119 all out showed how much they could do with Du Plessis's customary resilience with the bat.

Their task in levelling the series in Nottingham has been complicated by pace bowler Kagiso Rabada being ruled out as he serves a one-game for swearing at Ben Stokes after dismissing the England all-rounder in the first innings at Lord's.

South Africa could select both all-rounder Chris Morris and young seamer Duanne Olivier -- or stick with the same balance, with the struggling JP Duminy in line to make way for du Plessis in any event.

South Africa twice gave Joe Root reprieves early in his first innings as England captain, with the new skipper marking the occasion with 190.

Root had a dream start as skipper, a point emphasised by former captain Alastair Cook.

England are set to field an unchanged team after off-spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali took 10 wickets at Lord's and scored 87 in England's first innings, with Hampshire left-arm spinner Liam Dawson likely to retain his place.

Doubts persist, however over Gary Ballance's role at number three while Trent Bridge will be a chance for fast bowler Mark Wood, beset by ankle problems throughout his career, to prove he can stand the strain of back-to-back Tests.

Teams from:

England: Joe Root (capt.), Alastair Cook,Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Toby Roland-Jones

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (Capt.), Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Heino Kuhn, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Duanne Olivier, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander

Stats and trivia
South Africa have not lost an away Test series for 10 years and Cook said England were ready for a backlash in Nottingham.

Match facts
July 14-18, 2017
Start time 1100 local (1000 GMT)