AUS vs SA: Theunis de Bruyn to miss third Test for birth of his first child

South Africa batter Theunis de Bruyn will miss the third Test of the Australia tour due to the birth of his child. The 30-year-old replaced the experienced Rassie van der Dussen in the Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and scored 12 and 28 runs in the first and second innings respectively. 

Following his and other players' poor performance, South Africa suffered a defeat by an innings and 182 runs in the second Test. The Proteas are currently trailing 0-2 in the series and desperately need a win to remain alive in the World Test Championship (WTC) race.

“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,” Cricket South Africa (CSA) tweeted on Saturday.

The middle-order batter also made the headlines in the second Test for stepping too far away from the non-striker’s end when Mitchell Starc was bowling. The ace pacer warned him about the same and reminded him that it is not that hard to remain in the crease until the bowler delivers the ball. 

In the meantime, Van der Dussen is likely to make a comeback in the playing XI when South Africa takes on Australia in the third Test at Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4. The visitors so far have been pathetic on the batting front as they have scores of 152, 99, 189, and 204 in the two Tests so far. In order to improve, they need to tackle the new ball well enough and give the middle-order batter some chance to capitalize.

When it comes to their bowling department, the Dean Elgar-led side had a very rough time at the MCG. That too needs to change in order to find success.