South Africa vs Australia, 3rd Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Prelude:

Hello and welcome to the Live Blog of Day 4 of the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Newlands, Cape Town. Aiden Markram and AB de Villiers's fine half-centuries put South Africa in command. However, those efforts were overshadowed by yet another controversy as the series took an ugly turn. Cameron Bancroft, the Australia opener, confessed that he tried to alter the condition of the ball, an act that was approved by the leadership group of the Australian team. Here's a blow-by-blow account of what transpired.

While the repercussions are still being felt following what skipper Smith termed as "a big error in judgement", Australia's already-battered reputation has hit a nadir. "We're in the middle of a great series and for something like this to overshadow the great cricket that's been played and not have a single cricket question in here, that's not what I'm about and not what the team's about. We'll move past this. It's a big error in judgement but we'll learn from it and move past it," Smith said at the press conference after the third day's play.

Despite all the apologies and confessions, being termed cheats isn't going to do Australia any good and whether they fight back in this Test or not, the damage has been done. These are dark times for Australian cricket and the players will face a lot of embarrassment when they take the field on Day 4. However, the match isn't over. Let's wait and see how that pans out while we'll keep you updated on the tampering saga.