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South Africa will miss their middle-order batter Theunis de Bruyn for the third and final Test of the ICC World Test Championship series in Sydney against Australia, starting from January 4.
De Bruyn will return home for the birth of his first child and is set to miss the Sydney Test. The middle-order batter replaced Rassie van der Dussen in the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and made scores of 12 and 28 in the two innings batting at No.3 as South Africa lost by an innings and 182 runs against Australia.
With 30-year-old De Bruyn returning home for the birth of his first child, South Africa will need to make at least one change for the third and final Test in Sydney. It could allow a return for van der Dussen or potentially an opportunity for Heinrich Klaasen to make a comeback three years after his debut in 2019.
SQUAD UPDATE 🚨
Batter Theunis de Bruyn will miss the third #AUSvSA Test in Sydney as he returns home for the birth of his first child 🙏
We wish him everything of the best for this exciting part of his life 🍼#BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/dzI6eckL65
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 31, 2022
South Africa’s batting has continued to struggle in Australia and de Buryn’s absence will further add to their concerns. Wicket-keeper batter Kyle Verreynne is the leading scorer for the Proteas with 149 runs having made half-centuries in Brisbane and Melbourne. Temba Bavuma is the only other batter who managed to cross the three figures mark with 133 runs.
The South Africa No.4 batter Temba Bauvma said the visitors need to bolster their batting and consider playing an extra batter at SCG.
South Africa had played five frontline bowlers in the first two Tests but it was their batting that failed to live up to expectations in both matches.
“The 60s or 70s or I guess they’re good for that moment, but in the bigger scheme of things they don’t change the outcome of the game,” Bavuma said after the MCG Test. “I’ve obviously been guilty of that in my Test career, and that’s something that I’d really like to change not just for myself but also for the team,” he added.
Looking at the conditions in SCG, South Africa may bring off-spinner Simon Harmer into the playing XI who last played in England earlier this year. On the other hand, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has failed to take a wicket across 43.5 overs in the Test series.
South Africa’s pace bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada has been outstanding with his performances and is the leading wicket-taker for his side with 10 wickets at an average of 23.30.
However, Lungi Ngidi has been disappointing overall with just two wickets in two Tests while Anrich Nortje took five wickets in two Tests at an average of 32.40.
“We are playing for the badge, playing for the pride of our team,” said South Africa skipper Dean Elgar. “We’ve got to believe we can still bounce back and put up a massive effort for the third Test. Playing for pride is of utmost importance for us going forward now. I’m sure there’s a lot of guys hurting. I can tell you that.”
Australia will aim for a 3-0 series clean sweep before heading to India for the final four Tests of their WTC23 campaign.
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