South Africa Seek to No.1 in Test

London: South Africa lead the 3 match series 1-0 and will become the World number 1 side in Test cricket if they end with a series victory.

After South Africa routed England by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at The Oval, the series was only kept alive by an unexpectedly thrilling draw in the second Test at Headingley last week, when Pietersen almost single-handedly dragged England back into the contest with a spectacular innings of 149.

Pietersen, a part-time spinner, then bowled out South Africa's top three to give England an outside chance of victory.

The issues Pietersen cited seemed to have been resolved when he posted a faintly surreal video on YouTube on Saturday night, affirming his desire to play in all three formats of the game and revoking his retirement from one-day internationals.

Pietersen can be a frustrating player, as he was in throwing his wicket away in the first Test when England was trying to save the match, but if England stick with the policy of playing six specialist batsmen, his replacement will be Jonny Bairstow, who was unconvincing in three Tests against West Indies earlier this summer.

Bairstow averaged 12.66 against an attack far weaker than South Africa's and it isn't difficult to guess which batsman the Proteas would rather face.

South Africa bowling coach Allan Donald said Pietersen's innings at Headingley reminded him of Brian Lara while Dale Steyn, the top-ranked bowler, was visibly exasperated as Pietersen smashed him to all corners.

England will likely make another change to their line-up. Strauss admitted that excluding spinner Graeme Swann at Headingley was a mistake, meaning one of the seamers, probably Steven Finn or Stuart Broad, will make way.

Provided Alviro Petersen recovers from the hamstring problem he picked up at Headingley the Proteas, who drew their final tour match with Derbyshire on Monday, are likely to be unchanged.

Even without Pietersen, the Test has the potential to be a classic. The cricket in the first two Tests has been attritional at times, but the standard has been superb and the respect both sides have for each other is obvious. It's arguable that the real scandal is that this series will be over after just three matches.

South Africa will remain unchanged, as all their injury worries, Alviro Petersen, Jacques Kallis and Smith, have recovered.

Teams from:

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Graham Onions, Matt Prior (wk), Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, James Taylor, Jonny Bairstow

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), AB de Villiers (wk), Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Marchant de Lange, Faf du Plessis

Stats and trivia

• In total, the teams have met 14 times at Lord's with England winning six and South Africa four.
• England haven't beaten South Africa at Lord's since 1960 - six Tests ago - when they triumphed by an innings and 73 runs.
• South Africa's record Test total came at Lord's in 2003 - 682 for 6 declared.
• Andrew Strauss' 100th Test will be his 50th as captain, while Stuart Broad's 50th Test will be his 100th first-class match

Match facts
August 16-20 2012
Start time 1100 local (1000 GMT)