South Africa captain Faf du Plessis breathed a sigh of relief as rain bucketed down in Hamilton yesterday, washing out the final day of the third Test against New Zealand and ensuring his side sealed a 1-0 series victory.
The Proteas had been facing a massive battle to save the Test, entering the final day having been reduced to 80-5 and still 95 runs short of making New Zealand bat again.
Du Plessis, who would have been joined by Quinton de Kock at the crease had rain not intervened, said he had been prepared to defend all day.
Photo: AFP
“I was ready to come out and play my blockathon,” Du Plessis said. “New Zealand outplayed us in this game and deserved to win, and they will count themselves unlucky.”
“I’m pleased with another series win away from home, but to be honest I think we played very much under-par, especially the batting unit,” he said.
Meanwhile, Australian media labeled India skipper Virat Kohli “classless” and childish after his provocative comments at the end of their hard-fought, but incendiary Test series.
Newspapers laid into the winning captain for saying he no longer counted the Australia players as friends, and they also took umbrage at India’s apparent snub when invited to join the tourists for a beer.
Kohli said he would not think of the Australian players as friends “ever again” after India sealed a 2-1 victory in a pulsating series marked by flare-ups between the world’s top two teams.
“Virat Kohli had to shake hands and move on after series win, but he acted like a child,” a headline in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph said, also calling Kohli an “egomaniac.”
“Beergate: Kohli’s latest classless act,” another headline said.
The Australian’s Peter Lalor wrote: “If there were any doubts about the poor spirit between the Indian and Australian sides, it was confirmed after the series when the home side shunned a suggestion the two sides drink together.”
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