With the bowlers sealing an excellent series win, the Analyst believes some of the tourists' batsmen must now prove their ability in Pretoria
The fourth Test at Centurion, on the outskirts of Pretoria, will be an anti-climax.
Test matches after a series has been won and lost tend to be like that.
South Africa cannot save themselves from sacrificing top spot in the ICC Test rankings and England are too far behind – in fifth – to significantly improve their position.
Not that players pay much attention to those rankings.
In fact, this Test is likely to have more implications for individuals than teams.
Despite England’s superb performance at the Wanderers to clinch the series, there are still places in the side that are far from nailed down.
Alex Hales – Alastair Cook’s seventh opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss – has made one decent score of 60 in Cape Town, but still looks susceptible to the moving ball outside off stump and averages only 20 overall.
Depending on how he performs in the one-day series to follow, he will probably still start as Cook’s opening partner in the summer, but a good score in this last Test would offer assurance that he has improved.
Nick Compton has performed solidly at No. 3 but could still help situations by looking more relaxed at the crease.
And James Taylor has not looked entirely convincing at No. 5.
He looks jumpy and vulnerable early on and it is hard to imagine him ever really commanding the Test stage as you would want a middle-order player to do.
After 11 Test innings he averages 27.
Despite his energy and brilliant catching his place will come under threat from Gary Ballance unless he makes a big score here.
With Steve Finn ruled out of the rest of the tour with a side strain, there is also an opportunity for a quick bowler.
The choice rests between Chris Woakes – who played in Durban – and Mark Footitt.
Woakes will feature in the one-day series but has never looked threatening in Test cricket, taking seven wickets at an average of 52.
It would therefore be a good opportunity to experiment with Footitt – who offers variation with his fast left-arm action – as a future alternative to Finn should he be injured again.
South Africa are a team in flux and for the sixth match in succession there will be changes in personnel.
A specialist opener in Stephen Cook has finally been chosen to partner Dean Elgar.
The wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock is back after a knee injury forced him out at the eleventh hour in Johannesburg, and the wayward quick bowler Hardus Viljoen has been discarded after one Test.
Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, meanwhile, are both still missing.
The pitch is likely to produce runs early on and become cracked and uneven later, so it will be a good toss to win and put 400 on the board.
Even though they have already taken the spoils, England’s world class players in Cook, Root, Stokes, Broad and Anderson outnumber South Africa’s by 5-3.
What is more, their powerful lower-order against an older ball and tiring bowlers should prove decisive once again.
South Africa v England fourth Test betting
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