If you are an Australian cricket team, we apologise for the disappointment you are going through at the moment. The only way you can pacify yourself is by realising the fact that the Faf du Plessis-led South Africa cricket team are far too better than the Aussies at the moment and for Steven Smith & Co, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
A complete whitewash was inflicted by the Proteas in the ODI series between the two sides in the African nation and when it looked like Australia could avenge that heavy loss in their three-match Test series at home, we got to witness something else. FAF DU PLESSIS SHINES ON DAY 1.
Yes, the veterans AB De Villiers and Dale Steyn remained unavailable owing to injuries but even despite that, South Africa remained as classy as ever as they won the Test series already by winning their first two Test matches.
Time for Smith and team to definitely make a fresh start, come Thursday, when the third and the final Test match gets under way at the Adelaide Oval. Can the day-night Test match turn out to be a saviour for the home team? In a similar time last year, the Aussies got past their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the pink ball test match played at the venue.
The last time Australia were whitewashed in a Test series at their home was in, believe it or not, 1887. England defeated Australia over two-Test matches. Motivation enough for South Africa to go and bag yet another milestone! "[The match is] Very important. You want to be part of creating history. We've played some really good cricket and we've got something going," mentioned Du Plessis.
Joe Burns, Adam Voges, Callum Ferguson, Peter Nevill and Joe Mennie are unavailable for the Aussies and that has made the way for Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson to get their debut for the Aussies.
Expected starting XI
Australia: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.
South Africa: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj / Tabraiz Shamsi.
Australia vs South Africa 2016 3rd Test: Schedule
The match gets under way at 3:30 am GMT, 9 am IST on November 24.
Australia vs South Africa 2016 3rd Test: Where to watch live
India - TV: Star Sports 2/HD 2. Live streaming - Hotstar
Australia - TV: Channel 9. Live streaming - Channel 9 live
South Africa - SuperSport. Live streaming - SuperSport Live
USA - Willow TV. Live streaming - Willow TV YouTube
UK - BT Sport. Live streaming - BT Sport live
