After initial hesitation about playing in a day-night Test, South Africa are now anxious to begin preparations for their first fixture with the pink ball that will take place in Adelaide at the end of November. Although the match is the last in the three-Test tour, it is foremost on South Africas mind because their first practice match in Australia which starts on Saturday, will be played under lights and stand-in captain Faf du Plessis is excited about taking on the unknown.I havent faced or thrown the pink ball around so its all pretty new to me. It will be nice to see how it plays, du Plessis said. I know some of the guys have pink balls in their kit, especially the bowlers. Weve asked around a little bit and read the stuff other teams have been saying about the pink ball. Ive got no expectations of it. Im going in without any experience of it at all.With a ball that is expected to swing and conditions that should favour seamers, South Africa will likely go into the match without their most experienced batsman and will also need to prepare for that. AB de Villiers was ruled out of the tour after undergoing elbow surgery and even though he is holding out slim hope of being able to recover in time to play that game, du Plessis played down suggestions that de Villiers will rejoin them for the match.I dont think so. Hes just had an operation. Were not expecting it, du Plessis said. If it happens, great. If it doesnt, weve got some guys who are capable of putting in good performances.He wants to play. Its pink-ball Test cricket, and most of us in the team are not young pups anymore. ABs a very competitive guy and he wants to put himself out there against the best in the world. So Im assuming hell be in South Africa trying to get ready. But after a big operation like that and from the doctors reports that Ive read it doesnt seem likely that he will be fit.Instead, du Plessis will lead South Africa in the two matches before the day-night Test and probably also in Adelaide, where he can call on some happy memories as inspiration. On South Africas 2012 tour to Australia, du Plessis debuted at the Adelaide Oval and scored a stubborn century to save the game and keep the door open for an eventual 1-0 series win after a victory in the final Test at Perth where du Plessis top-scored in South Africas first innings with an unbeaten 78. He has since played 29 more Tests after that debut series and scored four more hundreds but still the first hundred remains the most special to him.I walked into the hotel and I had a massive smile on my face because I had such great memories, remembering that night after we saved the Test match, fantastic memories. That was the highlight of my career to date, he said. There was obviously the emotion of what went through that match but not just that. I remember drawing this match and moving on to the last one, where things completely changed for us as a team. Australia were dominant for the first two Tests and then moving into that last we finally had an opportunity to be on top.South Africa consider themselves in a confident position again because they have just come off a 5-0 victory over Australia in ODIs at home. Even though its a different format in a different place, their self-belief is soaring.We had an exceptional series. A lots been said about the Australian team but I felt we played consistently good cricket, and we take a lot of confidence from that, du Plessis said. We by no means think well rock up here in Australia and itll be easy. It never is. Australia in Australia is as hard as the Indian team in India. Theyre an extremely competitive team and well have to play good cricket to compete with them but the performances we had in South Africa does bring us here a little bit more confident.South Africa will play two two-day warm-up matches ahead of the first Test in Perth with the first of those beginning on October 22 in Adelaide. They will have another practice game between the second and third Tests, under lights, in Melbourne.Discount NBA Jerseys . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Stitched NBA Jerseys .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. https://www.nbachinajerseys.us/ . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. 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