England and South Africa have showcased their promise and imperfections in equal measure as the four-match Test series heads to The Oval delicately hinged at one apiece.
The Proteas capitulated at Lord’s – and their attack didn’t help themselves by bowling a slew of no-balls – while England hoisted the white flag after lasting a combined 96.1 overs in the Trent Bridge Test.
You may as well flip a coin to decide which way this week’s game is going to swing, but there are four men in particular who will be hoping things turn in their favour.
If Keaton Jennings is not yet a dead man walking then he is currently treading on the thinnest of ice. As things stand, his debut century in India will be his brightest moment in England whites.
The left-hander – who was born in South Africa – has been pilloried for a poor technique. Kevin Pietersen took to a radio show last week to claim ‘I only need to watch a batsman for five minutes to know whether he can play – Jennings cannot play’. Ouch.
Fond memories: Keaton Jennings after scoring his Test century.
His awkwardly upright stance does not scream confidence but it should be remembered that Jennings was the County Championship’s leading scorer with 1,548 runs last season, playing on a usually unforgiving Chester-Le-Street surface with Durham.
The England selectors have kept the faith, refusing to call-up in-form Mark Stoneman for a Test on his home ground, but Jennings will surely not last the series without drastic improvement.
Pace ace Kagiso Rabada will be slotted straight back into the XI after completing his one match-ban and is an immediate improvement over Duane Olivier, the debutant going for nearly seven runs an over at Trent Bridge.
But Rabada heads into this Test with more question marks over his head than ever before in his young career after a mediocre summer in England to date.
Feisty: Kagiso Rabada.
The 22-year-old had the briefest of reigns atop the ODI rankings due to a disappointing Champions Trophy, and then toiled at Lord’s in the first Test.
That frustration bubbled to the surface and his potty mouth cost him an appearance at Trent Bridge. Channel his anger in the right way however and he could break open the game for South Africa.
Another unlucky break for the injured Mark Wood has finally paved the way for Toby Roland-Jones’ Test debut – and he better make the most of it.
The Middlesex seamer will be 30 in January and while he is hardly in the autumn of his career, an average performance just won’t cut it if he plans to be a big part of England’s future.
Having a ball: Toby Roland-Jones is in line for his Test debut at The Oval.
Roland-Jones has already proved he can handle huge pressure as he took a hat-trick in the thrilling winner-takes-all clash against Yorkshire to clinch the County Championship for Middlesex last year.
A flat Oval wicket is unlikely to help him out, but it’s time to channel his inner Ryan Harris – who enjoyed a productive Test career with Australia after starting out in his 30s.
If not for Heino Kuhn’s sheer weight of runs in England before receiving his Test cap, he would likely have been shown the door before the series headed to south London.
He scored an unbeaten double century, then a ton, and latterly a knock of 80 in three matches for South Africa A against the England Lions.
Broken man: Heino Kuhn has given his wicket away cheaply.
Soon as he pulled on that Proteas jumper his form deserted him and scores of 1, 9, 8 and 34 read like binary in cricketing terms.
Young buck Aiden Markram is breathing down his neck and a 33-year-old Kuhn, who is already living on borrowed time, need to stop chasing the ball.
