South Africa have suffered a crushing blow ahead of the series-deciding third Test against Australia, with pacer Anrich Nortje ruled out of the game due to a minor groin injury. Notably, the management has not announced a replacement for the injured Nortje. His injury came to light during the fourth morning of the second Test at St George's Park when Nortje left the field while bowling his fourth over of the day. Later he did not return to the field for the remainder of the match.
This could be incredibly frustrating for Nortje, who had recently returned to the longest format after being on the sidelines for more than three years. Upon his return, Nortje remained very impressive in the first Test, claiming four wickets in total. Currently, the series is levelled 1-1 after South Africa clinched victory in the second Test by an innings and 31 runs. They had lost the first Test by 214 runs.
Proteas squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne