Live: Smith set to miss South Africa series finale due to neck injury

Australia is dealt a major blow on the morning of the final Test against South Africa in Cape Town as Steve Smith fails to pass a late fitness test.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:46pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:46pmWhen does Australia's line-up get confirmed?Hi Simon and Chris, counting down the minutes till the first ball! When does each team lineup get usually announced? A predicted no Steve Smith has left a large gap for the Aussies to try and fill.- CamHi Cam,The two playing XIs will be confirmed by the captains Pat Cummins and Temba Bavuma at the coin toss.The coin toss will take place at 7pm AEDT, just under 15 minutes from now.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:45pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:45pmNewlands, Cape Town(Getty Images)Is this arguably the most beautiful cricket ground in the world?Members of the South Australian Cricket Association will likely disagree, as will those of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association.But why quibble? Nobody can with Newlands' awe-inspiring vista, the 1,000-metre majesty of Table Mountain a towering symbol of nature's awesome scale and grace.Test cricket has been played at Newlands since March 1889 - this is the 62nd time South Africa will play a red-ball match at the home of Western Province.(Getty Images)No man has scored more runs here than Jacques Kallis, whose 2,181 Test runs includes a 224 effort against Sri Lanka in 2012.Graeme Pollock's 209 in 1966 is the highest score against Australia at the ground, with Neil Harvey's 178 in 1949 the best by an Aussie here.Dale Steyn is the most prolific wicket taker at the ground with 74, but Kagiso Rabada has 52 in the nine matches he's played, with a best of 6/55. His average of 21.55 and a strike rate of 34.25.Australia has played 14 times at Newlands since first visiting in 1902. They've won 10 of them.Five of those victories came in the seven Tests held before 1970 and South Africa's international exclusion.Since then, the ledger has flipped, with the Proteas winning five of seven.Australia last won here in 2014, by 245 runs, but that is their only victory in their last four Tests here.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:42pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:42pmSmith set to be ruled out of the third Test with neck injuryA huge blow for Australia just under an hour from the first ball with Steve Smith now expected to miss the series finale.It remains to be seen who will come into Australia's XI.Smith underwent a series of fitness tests in the lead-up and did another one this morning, but according to Fox Cricket's Mark Howard, this morning's test worsened Smith's condition, rather than improving it.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:40pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:40pmNo Nortje for the final Test(AP Photo)South Africa's victory in Gqeberha was made all the more remarkable given that Anrich Nortje barely bowled.He won't be bowling in Cape Town either.The hulking paceman suffered a groin injury in his first bowling spell, and has subsequently been ruled out of the final Test.The Proteas have not named a replacement in the squad.Nortje had not played a red-ball match in more than three-and-a-half years before the first Test in Durban.He proceeded to bowl an energy-sapping 40 overs in that match, which took its toll on the 32-year-old.South Africa's options include bringing Gerald Coetzee, Corbin Bosch or Dane Paterson into the team.However, given the Newlands surface's propensity to take spin, left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy could be an option as well.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:37pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:37pmWhat time is the first ball?Here are the session times for this Test.Morning session: 7:30pm – 9:30pm (AEDT)Afternoon session: 10:10pm – 12:10am (AEDT)Evening session: 12:30am – 2:30am* (AEDT)So, that 7:30pm start time is the case for New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania.In South Australia, that start time is 7:00pm.In Queensland, that start time is 6:30pm.In the Northern Territory, we're getting underway at 6:00pm.In Western Australia, the first ball will be bowled at 4:30pm.*There is, of course, every likelihood that we play an extra half hour each day, given modern cricket's inability to cram 90 overs into six hours of action.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:36pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:36pmWho will be the replacement for Smith?Great to be here! From the sounds of things Smith won't play... so Inglis comes in and Labuschagne gets another chance...- JeremyWe know for sure that Marnus will be a lock if Smith is unable to go, heck, he might've been a lock anyway.I'd imagine Josh Inglis is probably the man that comes in for Smith, you're right.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:35pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:35pmSteve Smith still under injury cloud heading into finaleThe big talking point in between the second and third Tests has been the injury status of Steve Smith.Smith hurt his neck during the first innings in Gqeberha and has undergone multiple fitness tests over the last few days while looking less than comfortable.His latest came a short while ago.Australia's playing XI will be confirmed at the coin toss in just about 25 minutes' time.Tue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:30pmTue 27 Oct 2026 at 6:30pmWelcome to the decider(Getty Images)So, it all comes down to this.One of cricket's greatest theatres playing host to the final act of a play that has flipped from one way to the next across both stanzas so far.It's got all the hallmarks of a thriller.It's a pleasure to be here to talk all about it with you.Hello everyone and welcome to the ABC Sport coverage of the third and final Test between Australia and South Africa!The ABC commentary team are on location in Cape Town, and the blogging team are here with you into the night here in Australia.My name is Simon Smale, Chris de Silva is here with me and Henry Hanson is also on hand to keep us all honest.It goes without saying that it is a pleasure to be with you and I hope you enjoy the coverage.