The series is lost, and while the Proteas have little more than pride to play for, a big win over Australia at Newlands this week may go some way in proving that their recent series victory in Oz was not just a one-off, writes iafrica.com’s Rob Peters.

The losses in Johannesburg and Durban brought the Proteas crashing back down to earth following the heady heights reached in Australia earlier this year. They have not become a poor team overnight, but what is concerning is how lethargic and out of sorts the majority of the team has looked over the past month.

Inconsistency is another massive worry.

Dale Steyn showed at Kingsmead in a second innings spell just how devastating he can be with the ball, while Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy all showed at times why they are regarded as world class.

But the failure to put together back-to-back performances has cost the team dearly. Only Kallis has shown any real consistency with the ball of late, but the big all-rounder has let himself down with the bat — although his 93 at Kingsmead is a promising return to form.

Australia, meanwhile, were superb in the opening two Tests and will be riding high on confidence after those performances. A confident Australia can only spell trouble for opposition teams and South Africa will have their work cut out for them at Newlands if they hope to avoid a whitewash.

Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus were aggressive as well as disciplined, while Simon Katich, Phil Hughes and Ricky Ponting made sure the batsmen were always on top of the SA bowlers.

Man for man, Australia was superior to South Africa in the first two Tests and the hosts will need to lift themselves considerably in Cape Town.

Making that more difficult will be the loss of talismanic skipper Graeme Smith. The man tasked with leading the side will, of course, be Jacques Kallis, who took over from Ashwell Prince in a bizarre scenario that played out last week. Prince, who at the start of this series found himself surplus to requirements, was named captain only to have it taken away two days later. An injury forced Prince out of the line-up and now another has allowed him to return — albeit in the unaccustomed role of opener — and he will be desperate to prove himself.

The gutsy left-hander will certainly have enough on his plate at Newlands, but if any player can rise to the challenge it is Prince, who many — including me — felt should never have been left out in the first place.

Prince and fellow opener Imran Khan both got big runs over the weekend during their respective SuperSport Series matches and that will give them plenty of confidence going into the Newlands Test.

There is no denying South Africa will go into this final Test as underdogs, but perhaps that is best, because they have seldom performed as well as when everybody has already written them off.

Players to watch: For South Africa: The opening partnership of Ashwell Prince and Imran Khan will be under the microscope at Newlands. Are they the answer to the Proteas batting problems? It has a very make-shift look to it, but Prince has everything to play for after spending the last few months out of the picture, while Khan will be keen to carry his domestic form into the international arena.

For Australia: Young opener Phil Hughes came under fire for his technique at the Wanderers and answered back with two tons in Durban. Considering his age and lack of experience, Hughes is living up to the hype so far, but questions over his technique and its durability at this level will last a while longer. A big knock at Newlands can only help banish those concerns…

Prediction: I would love to say the Proteas will bounce back at Newlands, but the team has a decidedly make-shift look to it. They could sneak it, but whether that means the changes are set for long-term success is debatable. My heart says South Africa, but my gut says Australia.
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