Team News
South Arica
- McKenzie and Morne Morkel were dropped and Smith injured
- Prince and Khan will form a new and experimental opening partnership
- Albie Morkel is set to make his debut at the expense of his brother
- bout of gastro that struck down North the day before the game
- The Newlands pitch is expected to offer some turn, so McGain is a chance to play anyway, and at just a week short of his 37th birthday he would be Australia's oldest debutant since Bob Holland
South Africa : 1 Imraan Khan, 2 Ashwell Prince, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis (capt), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Albie Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
Australia : 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Bryce McGain, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.
Pitch and conditions
Less than 24 hours before the game, the Newlands pitch was sporting significant patches of grass, although there were sizeable bare spots at either end. It will be given a shave before the match and should become the best batting surface of the series. The forecast for the first few days is for perfectly sunny conditions and temperatures of around 25C.
Stats and Trivia
- Australia's Test record at Newlands rivals their record anywhere in the world. They have won nine of their ten Tests at the venue, losing for the only time in 1969-70
- Australia are the only team to have beaten South Africa in Newlands Tests in the post-Apartheid era
- Ricky Ponting needs 52 runs to reach 11,000 in Tests, a mark that only Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Allan Border have achieved
- This will be the last Test appearance for the umpire Steve Bucknor, who will quit the game having stood in a record 128 Tests
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