Australia to win and Cummins to be Australia's top 1st innings bowler
Australia can seal a series win in double-quick time when they host South Africa in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pat Cummins' side claimed victory over the Proteas inside two days of the First Test as 34 wickets tumbled on a green pitch in Brisbane.
Cummins took 5-42 in the second innings to set up an easy run chase for the Baggy Greens, although Kagiso Rabada did his best to make things interesting with a striking spell of 4-13.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar, who felt the pitch did not allow a fair contest between bat and ball, will demand better from his batters in the first Test to be played at the MCG since Shane Warne's death in March at the age of 52.
Tributes will be paid to the late, great leg-spinner at his home ground with both sets of players to wear floppy hats during the national anthems while fans have been urged to copy his attire and trademark zinc sunscreen look.
Australia will probably be unchanged as, in Brisbane, skipper Cummins showed no ill effects from the quad injury that kept him out of the Second Test against the West Indies.
Fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is hoping to make himself available for selection after missing the last two Tests with a side strain, but replacement Scott Boland impressed again by returning match figures of 4-42 at the Gabba.
Another intriguing option could be Western Australian speed merchant Lance Morris, whose extreme pace would be suited to the MCG pitch, according to former selector Mark Waugh.
The hosts' batting line-up looks very strong with in-form middle-order stars Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith coming in after an opening pair of Usman Khawaja and David Warner.
Travis Head, who scored 92 from 96 balls in a game where only two batters passed 40 runs, and Cameron Green will slot in at five and six in the order just ahead of wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Proteas skipper Elgar hinted that the tourists could make changes for the Second Test with in-form batter Theunis de Bruyn in contention for a recall.
The question of who makes way for the right-hander is not an easy one to answer with only wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne constructing any innings of note in Brisbane, although Temba Bavuma made two gritty knocks and fellow middle-order batter Khaya Zondo showed promise.
Marco Jansen will retain his all-rounder's spot as Elgar has voiced a preference for playing five specialist bowlers.
That should also ensure spinner Keshav Maharaj, who only bowled two overs at the Gabba, is retained in the playing XI.
The Proteas have failed to reach a total of 200 in each of their last six completed Test innings.
In the 15 Test innings that Smith has played at the MCG, he has scored a total of 932 runs at an average of 84.73, but that has come down from the high of 136.00 it stood at after the latest of his four centuries at the ground in 2017.
After Brisbane, the MCG is Cummins' second-best home ground in terms of wickets taken (24), bowling average (18.67) and best innings analysis (6/27).
The First Test revealed how South Africa lack the batting technique to compete with Australia on any wicket with anything in it for the bowlers.
And all the indications are that the MCG surface will behave similarly to last year when the hosts skittled England for 185 and 68 to win by an innings and 14 runs
Cummins, who is 9/4 with LiveScore Bet to be Australia's top 1st innings bowler, picked up three wickets before lunch on day one of that game and, with the new ball in his hand, could do further damage to the Proteas batters' brittle confidence.
South Africa's malaise stems back to last summer in England when they were rolled out cheaply in successive Tests by England.
And, remarkably, they have lost each of their last three Tests inside three days of actual playing time - making LiveScore Bet's odds of 5/16 about a home win seem very appealing.
