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Du Plessis bullish against ‘less verbal’ Australia
- Updated: October 17, 2016
It isn’t often that a team can say they have dominated Australia but South Africa believe they can. They inflicted a 5-0 ODI whitewash at home on Steven Smith’s side – albeit one with a depleted bowling attack – and rate themselves highly as they head to Australia for a three-Test series.
“To beat Australia the way we did, really convincingly and not giving them a sniff, will leave a bit of a scar on them mentally,” Faf du Plessis, who will captain South Africa in Australia because AB de Villiers is injured, said. “I also appreciate that a Test team is a different team, and probably a more mature team, but if we can start really well in that first Test match to remind them that we are in the same space as a Test team, we will have a really good tour.”
South Africa won their previous two Test series in Australia, but circumstances then were different to what they are now. In 2008-09 and 2012-13, they were fresh off victories in England, and while they were ranked No. 1 on their last trip to Australia, South Africa are now in fifth place after a difficult 2015-16 season.
Du Plessis was quick to point out that Australia were also not the force of old, and not just because they recently lost a Test series 3-0 in …
