Faf Du Plessis
Faf Du Plessis is doing really well for South Africa in place of AB De VilliersReuters

Can South Africa bag the five-match ODI series against Australia on Wednesday itself? That remains to be seen now as the Proteas play their third 50-over cricket match against the Aussies at Kingsmead, Durban.

Faf du Plessis' side lead the series 2-0 already and another win will hand them the series. South Africa beat Australia by six wickets in the first ODI at Centurion last month, and then defeated the Aussies last Sunday at Johannesburg by a whopping 142 runs in the 2nd ODI.

The occasion is historic for Cricket South Africa as the national cricket team are only one victory away from bagging their first bilateral ODI series win over Australia in as many as seven years. "It's really important that we don't, for one second, become complacent because we know we are very far away from winning this series," warned Du Plessis ahead of the game.

The 32-year-old right-handed batsman, along with Quinton de Kock, has really impressed so far in the series. Rilee Rossouw, who has kept Hashim Amla benched, too has turned out to be a good support, while JP Duminy has also performed with the bat.

A similar thing cannot be said about the Aussies, however, as they have not been up to the mark at all. Apart from Warner, George Bailey, Aaron Finch and Travis Head, there have not been any great signs in the series as yet for the Aussies. Much was expected of Steve Smith, but the Australia skipper managed to score just 22 runs over the first two matches – a forgettable stat even for him.

Bowling, too, has been a major area of worry for the Aussies. With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson out, John Hastings remains the only hope. The newbies Chris Tremain, Joe Mennie and Daniel Worrall have also failed to make a mark, and so has Adam Zampa.

"Been a tough first couple of games against South Africa but we are staying positive and looking forward to remaining 3 games. Training is in full swing as we prepare for our next match and I'm making every step count," wrote Smith.

Schedule

South Africa vs Australia is scheduled to start at 1:30 pm local time (11:30 am GMT | 5 pm IST) on October 5.

Where to watch live

India: TV - Ten 2, Ten 1 HD. Live streaming - Ten Sports Live.

UK: TV - Sky Sports 5. Live streaming - Watch Sky Sports.

USA: TV - Willow TV. Live streaming - Willow TV YouTube.

Australia: TV - Fox Sports. Live streaming - Fox Sports Australia Live.

South Africa: TV - SuperSport. Live streaming - SuperSport Live.