England v South Africa 2nd Test Live and Preview

The No. 1 ranked test side are under a looming threat of losing their coveted spot as they face South Africa in the second test match starting on Thursday.

The match will be played at Headingley as England look to level the series after an annihilating defeat in the first test.

The Oval test was embarrassment all round for England as they suffered to an innings and 12 run defeat - an abject surrender that exposed them similar to the way they were exposed against Pakistan in UAE.

However, in home conditions, such a calamitous performance was not expected. The bowlers could pick up only two wickets in 189 overs and that has left plenty of head-scratching to do for the team management.

Coach Andy Flower approved the inclusion of James Taylor as their new number six batsman, after Ravi Bopara made himself unavailable due to personal reasons.

This number six spot has been troublesome for England since quite some time as Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior and Bopara have all come and gone.

With the ball, Flower did not rule out the temptation to play an all-pace attack on a lively pitch, with Graeme Swann going wicketless in 52 overs at The Oval.

South Africa arrived with plenty of hype around them and they lived up to their task, brushing aside England brutally.

Hashim Amla’s monumental triple-century effort was the cornerstone of a herculean effort by the Proteas and centuries from Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith worsened their opponents’ misery.

A packed batting line up is again expected to score heavily while the bowling department also looks settled with Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn coming into their own.

Albie Morkel, the all-rounder, has been ruled out due to injury though it would have little impact on the preparations as he was never in contention to play.

The match starts at 10.00am local time.