South Africa’s Faf du Plessis declared fit for third and final ODI on Saturday(Oct 6). Faf was ruled out from the ODI series as he was recovering from his right shoulder injury. He has passed the fitness test and is available for selection for the final ODI. South Africa has sealed the series with a 2-0 win from the first two ODIs.
“The guys have been training hard,” du Plessis said. “I have also been training hard with the guys and I’m feeling excited to be back on the field again. The guys are motivated, we are not only looking at what is in front of us now, there is a bigger purpose and push for what lies ahead. At no stage will we be taking it easy. The guys are still trying to impress and are trying to get into that World Cup side.
“The players are motivated and driven to put in performances to put their names into the hat for the World Cup selection,” he explained. “As a team, we are still trying to find our feet as to how exactly we are going to go about playing in the World Cup. There are some exceptional players coming through which is great to see.”
“The bowling has been exceptional once again,” du Plessis said. “We have some good wicket-taking options throughout the innings. That is what we are working to get better on, from overs 11 – 50, we want to keep getting wickets. Imran [Tahir] has been exceptional.
“With the batting, it is too difficult to say where we have been leaving it too short or where we have been good because it has been quite challenging for the batsmen,” du Plessis said, acknowledging the tough conditions on offer.
“It has been difficult with the wickets that we have been playing on,” du Plessis added. “One or two guys have been looking good but from a batting-unit point of view it has been tough for the guys. I am hoping tomorrow (Saturday) will be a lot different, it looks like a good wicket. That is what you want to see, you want big runs on the board and games going on a bit longer.”
