As if their embarrassing defeats in the first two Tests against Australia were not enough, South Africa suffered another setback when top-order batter Theunis de Bruyn was declared unavailable for the third and final match as he had to return home for family reasons.
De Bruyn returned home for the birth of his first child and thus forced South Africa to make at least one change for the third and final Test starting at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4.
De Bruyn came into South Africa's playing XI for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne at the expense of Rassie van der Dussen, but could only manage 12 and 28 runs in the two innings as South Africa lost by an innings and 182 runs. He was warned by Mitchell Starc for backing up too far in the second innings.
