Du Plessis praises CSA changes in Test win
AFP - Proteas Captain Francois du Plessis gave a ringing endorsement of the changes in management in South African cricket after his side won the first Test against England by 107 runs at Supersport Park yesterday.
The win broke a five-test losing sequence for the Proteas and gave them their first points in the World Test Championship.
“We’ve got the right people in the right jobs at the top of Cricket South Africa (CSA),” he said of the appointment of former Captain Graeme Smith as Director of Cricket and Mark Boucher as Head Coach after a period of upheaval in the local game.
“Leadership always comes from the top and filters down,” said Du Plessis.
“I feel it set the tone for the way that we are playing right now. That’s a start for us as a team. Now you can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket.”
Meanwhile, England Captain Joe Root said the match was won and lost in the first innings “both with bat and ball.”
He said South Africa escaped from a shaky 111 for five after being sent in, eventually making 284, largely through Man-of-thematch Quinton de Kock’s 95.
“We could have been slightly more consistent,” he said. ”
“We gave them too many boundary balls. De Kock likes to score quite quickly and that allowed him to play in the manner he likes to bat.”
That was followed by a poor batting performance which meant a first innings deficit of 103.
“From that point on we fought very hard to get back into the game and we turned up today with a real that belief we could win the Test match,” said Root.