Aus series win as good as taking ICC trophy?
Victorious skipper Du Plessis praises range of players who ‘put up their hands’
THERE is no doubt that South Africa would have settled for this. Defeat in the last Test may have been bitter, but the overall series victory here remains, as the locals would say, “Sweet As!” Had Faf du Plessis, only the stand-in captain, remember, in the absence of AB de Villiers, been offered two victories against Australia with just one defeat fours weeks ago, he would undoubtedly have asked: out that this Australian team is nowhere near the units that were populated by the legends who now analyse their every move from the commentary boxes. But neither is this South African side, especially after losing the services of De Villiers and Dale Steyn – arguably the world’s best batsman and fast bowler.
Therein lay the beauty of the class of 2016. The sums of the Proteas’ parts were collectively stronger than Australia’s and that is only possible if the culture within the camp is strong.
This team, led intelligently and wholeheartedly by Du Plessis, have played for each other and the Proteas badge. They represented a united front at all times, not something that could always be said of previous Proteas teams, and this bore dividends both on and off the field on this tour.
“Mission successful. The last four days was not the plan, Australia came back really hard. We came here to win the series and fortunately for us that was in Hobart. It was an incredible series and to do it three times in a row is amazing,” Du Plessis told the media last night.
“A lot of questions were asked of us. We lost AB, who is a massive player, and we lost Dale. If you had asked the South African public (about our chances) after losing those two players, they would have said we have no chance to beat Australia.
“To come here... for guys to put up their hands. I said before the series that this would be a great tour for guys to make names for themselves and they did that. The most pleasing thing was that everyone in the batting line-up put their hand up on a different occasion. We didn’t rely on an individual. And our whole bowling line-up performed to their full potential.”
The bare numbers of the series certainly endorse Du Plessis’s claim of not being dependent on any one player for success. Only two members of the batting unit – Quinton de Kock and the captain himself – averaged over 50 with a host of players hovering between 36.80 and 27.20 – while the pace trio Kagiso Rabada (15 wickets), Kyle Abbott (13) and man of the series Vernon Philander (12) also distributed the Australian batsmen’s scalps evenly among them.
While it was satisfying to see so many players assume responsibility on different occasions, it also indicates that this group has not reached its full potential yet and could be targeting Sri Lanka during the coming home Test series to really put its foot down.
“We are still very eager to learn, and to improve, and that goes for the guys sitting on the side and myself. The great thing about our squad is that guys want to do that. They don’t see themselves as the finished article. That is a good sign for a team,” Du Plessis explained. “Sri Lanka is the next mission. We’re really looking forward to a home series, it is something we really enjoy. We don’t play a lot of Test cricket at home, so I am really excited for the start of that series.”