‘Takeover talk’ driving Du Plessis

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis toasted his side’s 107-run victory over England and then suggested the prospect of another “big three” takeover is driving his side to perform.

Immediately prior to the Boxing Day Test at Centurion, news emerged of a new and controversial one-day tournament in the offing.

India, England and Australia have opened talks about an annual “Super Series” which would pitch the game’s three richest nations against one invited guest. That idea appeared to many as a throwback to the abandoned financial restructure of 2014 and has not gone unnoticed by Du Plessis.

Speaking from a position of strength, having just overseen his side’s comprehensive victory at Supersport Park, he said: “The last year or so you can see what’s going on in terms of the big three countries.

“There’s a lot of movement going towards that, a lot more matches being played against the top three, or the ‘big three’. For us as a team it’s just making sure we control our performances, playing the best cricket that we can so that we are a team people want to play against.”

As for the match itself, Du Plessis revealed that one of the key moments – slow left-armer Keshav Maharaj’s fourth innings dismissal of Ben Stokes – came from an instinct call.

“We had a lot of confidence in Kesh. We kept saying that, in the second innings, Kesh would get Stokes out,” said Du Plessis. “Stokes was a massive wicket for us at that stage.”