The Proteas cricket team have already surrendered the series to Australia, soundly beaten in the first two Tests, and they have certainly been accessories to their own demise.
So, hopefully, they can reverse that trend and spare their blushes in the third and final Test that starts in Sydney in the early hours of today (SA time).
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While SA’s recent batting performances have been a crime against the decorated legacies of great batsmen who have represented the country before in Australia, such as Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, the line-up for the third Test simply have to dig deep and supplement whatever technical skill they can muster with tremendous determination and a bloody-minded refusal to give their wickets away.
As impressive as the Australian attack has been, there have been too many soft dismissals. Avoiding runouts will help, for a start.
The South African batsmen have the talent to be performing much better, they just need to show more mental steel.
Which is tough to do when the team has taken a battering and confidence is low. But there comes a time when a line in the sand has to be drawn and an attitude of “over my dead body” adopted; a New Year’s Test seems a most apt time for this to happen.
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