Published: Oct 03, 2016, 02:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 03, 2016, 02:10 PM (IST)
South Africa defeated Australia yet again by 142 runs at Wanderers and are sorely missing their ace bowler Mitchell Starc in these situations. South Africa have very much covered up for the absence of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, with Quinton de Kock’s century in first One-Day International (ODI) and stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis’s crucial century in the second. South Africa captain du Plessis said the obvious thing following the result, that Starc had left a huge hole in Australia’s team. Starc had been rested from the tour of South Africa due to injury during his training session and had to undergo surgery. De Villiers is already affected by elbow injury since August while Amla was declared fit despite which he was kept away from the final XI on Sunday. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs Australia, 2nd ODI at Wanderers in Johannesburg
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo.com, du Plessis said, “You throw Starc back into that team, it’s completely different. He’s proven many times he gets wickets … he’s got that extra pace. He’s extremely good to the tail-enders. He gets the ball to reverse. In the West Indies he did that to us twice, came in and just rolled over the tail. Extra pace in all formats is a weapon that a captain wants to have in his side.”
Starc suffered a deep shin laceration after colliding with training equipment, following which he underwent surgery and received 30 stitches. However, du Plessis equally lauded South Africa’s efforts as complete performance. He feels South Africa showed depth that existed in South African cricket. ALSO READ: South Africa vs Australia, 2nd ODI: Hosts dismantle visitors for 219 to take 2-0 lead in
Du Plessis further added, “That was a complete game. A great disciplined batting performance and as good a performance I think you’ll see from us. To beat Australia, which is a fantastic one-day team, to beat them like that means we’ve competed in every aspect of the game. Our performances have been extremely good and it’s without the two best players in the world. It shows that there is a future without AB de Villiers. Hopefully we can have him back and Amla, but it shows that there is a lot of talent in South African cricket.”
There were eyebrows raised on Amla’s exclusion that included former Australia skipper Michael Clarke and former South African batsmen Kepler Wessels, Ashwell Prince.
