AUS vs SA: Theunis de Bruyn to miss final Test
South Africa's middle-order batter Theunis de Bruyn will miss the third and final Test versus Australia, starting on January 4. De Bruyn will fly back to South Africa for the birth of his first child. Cricket South Africa confirmed the same on Saturday (December 31). Notably, the Proteas side has already lost the series and would fight to avoid a clean sweep in Sydney.
How has De Bruyn fared in the series?
While the batter was benched for the series opener, he replaced Rassie van der Dussen for the second game in Melbourne. He returned with scores of 12 and 28 as South Africa endured another batting failure. Australia romped home to an innings victory to seal the series. Overall, De Bruyn boasts 468 runs in 13 Tests at 19.5 (100: 1).
Will Van der Dussen return?
De Bruyn's ouster has opened the doors for Van der Dussen to make a return to the XI. The latter endured a hard time in the series opener as he could only manage 5 and 0 in his two outings. Meanwhile, the SA team management might also consider giving a go to Heinrich Klaasen, who made his only Test appearance in October 2019.
Other possible changes in the SA line-up
Keshav Maharaj is yet to take a wicket across two games in the ongoing series. Simon Harmer, who last played in England earlier this year, could return as the lead spinner. Having taken just two wickets in the series, pacer Lungi Ngidi has also struggled. Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, and Glenton Stuurman are the available options in the pace-bowling department if Ngidi gets benched.
Here's the WTC scenario
With defeats in the previous two games, SA have now slipped down to fourth place in the ICC World Test Championship standings with a PCT of 50%. They must win the Sydney Test to keep their hopes of making it to the final alive. Besides this, the Proteas side will also have to whitewash West Indies 2-0 at home depending upon other results.
