Proteas revel in historic triumph
Why Faf feels win is most complete
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis has described their historic 3-1 series victory over bitter rivals Australia as their most complete performance.
In this four-match series that was dominated by many off-the-field incidents‚ South Africa dominated the Aussies during the last three matches in Port Elizabeth‚ Cape Town and Johannesburg‚ winning by six wickets‚ 322 runs and 492 runs respectively. The Proteas lost the first match in Durban by 118 runs.
“I thought right through the series the decks were good. In the first three tests reverse swing was incredible and we had to front up to it. As a whole in the series‚ this was our most complete performance‚” Du Plessis said after the final match at the Wanderers ended with a 492-run victory yesterday. “This is probably the best we have been in a series. We have been winning but with holes where we can improve. I felt in this series‚ it was incredible how we put everything together. We are proud of the record, to be the first team to beat Australia at home since readmission. Everyone played their part throughout the series.”
The Proteas scored five centuries during this series, with Aiden Markram helping himself to two, in Durban and Johannesburg‚ AB de Villiers notching up one in Port Elizabeth‚ Dean Elgar in Cape Town and Du Plessis also at the Wanderers.
“The best thing is that five of our batters scored hundreds at different times, with Aiden scoring two‚” the captain said.
“From an opening point of view‚ guys put us in good positions in every game and we scored five hundreds in this series‚ which is incredible‚ where we managed to bowl them out.”