South Africa hit back with big victories in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg to record the nation's first home Test series win over Australia since the end of apartheid.
Aus skipper says ball-tampering fiasco affected his players as they lose 7/31in just over an hour in 492-run loss to SA The fall-out from Australia's ball-tampering scandal had a major effect on the performance of the team, new captain Tim Paine said after they were thrashed by 492 runs in the fourth Test in Johannesburg. While he was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the first innings, du Plessis ensured that he didn't sign the series off with a string of low scores and scored a match-defining century in the second innings (120), combining with Dean Elgar (81) for a 170-run partnership for the fourth wicket that put the game well beyond Australia's reach.
"We nearly went from motivated to motivated (and) angry". "This means a lot to us", he said. Paine admitted that South Africa had outplayed Australia after losing the first Test in Durban.
The meek surrender, which came after Paine fought incredibly hard on day three despite batting with a broken thumb, capped one of Australia's most-incredible cricket tours.
"In the first three tests there was reverse swing with incredible skill and pace that we had to front up to".
Australia lost the last two tests by 322 runs and then an even more humiliating 492 runs, underlining how much morale disintegrated after the cheating scandal, and maybe how much of a challenge it's going to be to rebuild for a cricket team regarded as the best in the world over the last 30 years. I felt before this test that our team was mentally flat and that was because there was a lot happening off the field.
"With the guys being out at the moment, there is also a chance for others to step up and play an extended period of Test cricket". Du Plessis added that while the team was sad to see the worldwide retirement of stalwart seamer Morne Morkel, he feels their bowling stocks look good going forward.
"I know the guys are certainly taking that on board and it's something that we're excited, again, to go forward and be able to do".
"It was evident in this match that we have changed somewhat and that will continue to happen". It's a really special journey. He lives for the team. "This whole series has been probably the best we have been right through a series". Du Plessis said different players had contributed at stages throughout the series.