South Africa vs Australia 2018: South Africa strong favourites to win Test series

South Africa will be looking for a comprehensive and dominant series win over Australia in the final test at the Wanderers, as their opponents deal with news of Steven Smith and David Warner being banned for one year.

Sandpaper shenanigans

The past week has been one of the most difficult weeks for Australian Cricket. Having lost the second Test in Port Elizabeth, and with the third test in Cape Town also slipping out of their grasp, the Australian cricket team did something unthinkable - they cheated. And they got caught for it, and are now dealing with the consequences.

Steven Smith openly came clean at a press conference held after the third day's play and admitted that the Australian camp had discussed and devised a plot to tamper with the condition of the ball and gain an unfair advantage as they saw themselves staring down the barrel on day three as South Africa made merry and piled on the runs.

His admission led to shock and outrage throughout the cricketing world. Steven Smith received a ban from the ICC for one test match and was fined 100 percent of his match fee. Cameron Bancroft received a fine of 75% of his match fee and was handed three demerit points.

However, this was only the start of worse to come. Cricket Australia subsequently ordered the trio of Smith, Warner and Bancroft back home as well as banning Smith and Warner from professional cricket for a period of 12 months. Bancroft received a slightly shorter ban of 9 months.

Amidst all this news, there is still much speculation around the involvement of coach Darren Lehmann in the cheating saga and whether he will continue as the coach of Australia.

Australia rocked by ball-tampering row

With all these issues going on off the field, it is difficult to believe that the Australian cricket team can remain focused on the task which lays ahead and prepare adequately for their opponents. Mentally, this will have taken a huge toll on the team's morale and motivation levels, not to mention the huge fact that they have lost two of their key batsmen in Smith and Warner.

As if this was not bad enough, they still lost the third Test against South Africa by a mammoth 322 runs inside of four days despite cheating, which will no doubt have a huge impact on their confidence levels going into this final test match.

Their opponents, however, have a completely different feel in their camp.

Motivated Proteas

The South African cricket team played exceptionally well in Cape Town to gain a lead in the four-match series and can sense this as an opportunity to claim a historic series win against their opponents on home soil.

During the post-match presentation after the third Test, South Africa's Faf du Plessis made no secret of the team's motivation levels for this final test match and their hunger to win the series. Right now, everything is stacked in their favour to win.

With fast bowler Kagiso Rabada being in hot form at the moment and ripping through the Australian batting line-up, AB de Villiers returning to test cricket with a bang and opener Aidem Markram announcing his arrival in international cricket, the South African cricket team looks to be in ideal form to win the final test match and claim the series.

South Africa will be even more motivated to win the series with veteran Morne Morkel announcing that he will retire after the Australian series. One would feel that the South African cricket team would view a series win against their rivals to be the perfect way to send goodbye and close what has been a long and successful career for the tall fast bowler.

What is certain is that an exciting test match awaits, with a rampant South African side who will no doubt be looking to not only win but to demolish their opponents in dominant fashion.

Another win inside of five days could be on the cards.