Du Plessis is South Africa’s hero, Australia’s villain

Du Plessis is South Africa’s hero, Australia’s villain was posted in Sports of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on November 28, 2016 and was last updated on November 28, 2016.

Kyle Abbott, coming into the XI to replace Steyn and playing his eighth test, took three wickets in the first innings and 6-77 in the second, when Rabada chimed in with four as South Africa won by an innings and 80 runs to clinch the series.

Renshaw, with scores of 10 and 34 not out, is expected to keep his spot for the first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane next month, although the seasoned Shaun Marsh, who can bat anywhere, is close to a return from a finger injury.

With AB de Villiers likely to be fit for the upcoming Sri Lanka series, Faf du Plessis or JP Duminy look likeliest to miss out to make room for the regular skipper.

It was fitting that in a match that was preceded by mass change to the Australian side it was two of the three youthful debutants here, Peter Handscomb and Matt Renshaw, who were in the middle as the seven-wicket triumph in the third and final Test was completed. He bristled at questions about the Australian set-up and gave short shrift to others.

Travis Head is a player whose name is always on the selectors lips for the future and has his part time Right arm off breaks to compliment his batting ability. “I didn’t. I chose not to”.

Glenn Maxwell aside, Handscomb is arguably the most unconventional player to debut for Australia since Steve Smith, and that’s no bad thing.

The fact that 125 993 people clicked through Adelaide Oval’s turnstiles in not quite four days tells us this idea’s time has come.

“Generally, I just try and play as long as possible”.

Mindful of happy events of the last few weeks, their appetites for that are only likely to increase in the interim … Obviously a change of players as well.

“You don’t just come here and beat them, you have to play some really good cricket, so to have done that over the majority of the tour makes me a really satisfied captain”. “[I’m] really pleased for them”.

They went into the test match with an experimental, inexperienced test team and got the result that they wanted.

The Australian team does not have a full-time travelling spin coach on its staff. You can’t just play him for two or three games, and if he’s not in form, you get rid of the guy.

“This Test match we’ve bowled a lot better”, Lyon said. “He knows his game very well”, Smith said. But we should not get carried away and write Amla off. “I don’t think we haven’t taken one to the sub-continent”. So they should get through the summer. Having a young player with such talent who can go out and express himself speaks wonders of the environment that has been created to foster this culture. “You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. Ferguson was rewarded with a baggy green in the aforementioned Hobart Test match and was made way for Maddinson, a call in my eyes was wrong given Ferguson’s experience in both limited over worldwide and 4-day domestic cricket and form at the Shield level. That will stay with him as a lesson in the pink ball format.