Australia hopes to win World Test Championship

• Australia can qualify for June’s final with a win at the SCG,
• South Africa must win to keep their slender hopes alive.
• The third day is dedicated to Glenn McGrath’s late wife.

Australia once again, the series is decided in Sydney, but the World Test Championship has plenty at risk. Australia can qualify for June’s final with a win at the SCG, barring points deductions. South Africa must win to keep their slender hopes alive.

In 2008-09, South Africa arrived 2-0 up and Australia won a consolation game. Graeme Smith tried to preserve the match with a broken hand, but Mitchell Johnson put one through him with 10 balls left.

Can the outcome be changed? Given the batting disparity, it’s unlikely. South Africa passed 200 in the final innings of the MCG Test. Their speed keeps them in the World Test Championship, but their batting may cost them.
Australia must change. Mitchell Starc has a broken middle finger, but Cameron Green’s balance is a worse loss (his fifty, with a broken finger, was another huge effort). Green’s absence has caused worries about Australia’s side weeks.

The SCG surface may let Australia to keep an eye on India, but they don’t want to with the final so close. In the last cycle, little moments, not just their over-rate, harmed them, and they’ve had trouble grabbing 20 wickets on this ground.

This is the 15th Pink Test, with South Africa playing in the first. The third day is dedicated to Glenn McGrath’s late wife, Jane, who died of breast cancer in 2008. The Pink Test has raised almost AU$17 million, and the foundation employs 193 breast care nurses with 250 by 2025.

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