Buoyed by the comprehensive win in the second Test against Australia, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has said his team will not rest on the laurels in the final match of the series at after taking an unassailable lead of 2-0 at Hobart.
After registering a 177-run victory in the first Test, Proteas demolished Steve Smith’s men by an innings and 40 runs to pile more misery on the hosts. With the series in the pocket, du Plessis is no mood of relaxing and wants to take full advantage of Australia’s poor form in Tests.
Speaking to media after the conclusion, du Plessis said:“That is the mission for us now.We want to do that very badly. We won’t rest on our laurels and be happy with 2-1 or even 2-0. We’ve got Australia in a position where they are under pressure and we don’t want to let that go. It’s hard enough to get them in this position so we will do everything we can to make it 3-0.”
A place where teams have found it extremely tough even to win a Test, South Africa have now won three Test series in a row. du Plessis believes these wins will inspire the next generation of cricketers.
“We know how hard it is. We watched on TV for so many years how hard it was for South Africa to come here and do well.I suppose the younger guys looking from back home can see that it’s possible to come here and to an extent and dominate an Australian team. It is extremely special for us. It’s something we will remember as a team. That’s exactly what we came here to do, we want to create memories together,” he added.
There were apprehensions all around that the visitors will fail to perform without two of their best players – AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, who are both injured. Senior pacer Morne Morkel was not fit either. However, the African team proved everyone wrong by performing exceptionally well.
Speaking on that, he said:“This team has been very close to exceptional.There haven’t been many things we’ve done wrong. We have been consistent in the way we perform. We are not relying on one or two players. All XI are putting our hands up at different times and that’s what you want from your team.”
Faf du Plessis’ men did not start the series on a good note when they were dismissed for 242 runs on the first day of the Perth Test. But that was the only time in the series they didn’t perform well as they blew away the hosts in every department after that.
Speaking on his team’s approach, he said: “When you are a team that’s under the pump and under pressure and not playing as well as you like, confidence will fade away.It’s hard to fake it. We didn’t give them the opportunity to do it [assert themselves over a long period of time]. It was important to keep the important guys in the team quiet – David Warner and Steve Smith. If you can put a lot of pressure on them, the younger guys won’t have that same punch. We made sure those guys have been relatively quiet in the series. Even guys like [Mitchell] Starc, he bowled well in that one spell but if you are on top, that’s when you get a five-for and you clean the tail up. We were just really good in making sure we stopped that.”
The third and final match of the series will start on November 24.