Faf du Plessis aiming for series whitewash in the last Test

Despite India losing both the Tests in Newlands and Centurion, South Africa could hardly term their victories as convincing. While their first win was a narrow 72-run win, their second victory, though better, had a 135-run margin. India had the chance to wrap the game on both occasions and du Plessis has warned their opponent about their intention ahead of the final game of the series.  

"Just playing against India, you don't get the opportunity often to be in a position of strength where we can beat them 3-0," said du Plessis as quoted by Cricbuzz. 

"Consistency is something we want to have as much as possible. Leading into the Australia series we want to go into it with that momentum we have been gathering over the last two games. Australia have been playing some really good cricket so by no means is anyone in the team thinking this is an opportunity to take our foot off the gas. We are really motivated to get a 3-0 win," he said.

Pitch has also been a crucial factor in the series. While the Newlands track had the predictable pace and bounce, the Centurion pitch shocked the hosts with its spin-friendly nature as South African batsmen struggled to get runs. Wanderers’ grassy track is expected to offer bounce and pace and du Plessis stated that batsmen’s role will be important in the last five-dayer.

"This is the ground where it swings a little bit more than anything else. Your disciplines as a batsman become important. When you do get through the tough times, that's when you get value for your shots. The outfield is very quick and the wicket can get good to bat on,” said Faf du Plessis on the eve of the match. 

“We have our own ideas of how to do it and I would like to keep it to myself so we don't give out too much advice before the Test,” added du Plessis. 

Quinton de Kock has been struggling for form of late as he managed just 43 runs as his highest score in four innings against India. Last year, he had played 12 games scoring 619 runs at an average of 36.41 including only one century. However, the under-fire middle-order batsman got support from his skipper, who has chosen to keep his trust on him.

"The key for someone like him is not to over-analyse or over-complicate things. That's normal, that happens when a guy goes one or two or five Tests without scoring runs, you tend to want to over-analyse, but with Quinny that's the last thing you want to do. His biggest asset is that he is a free player when he is on, he completely takes the pressure back onto the opposition,” said the skipper. 

“I know he would like to score runs. From the team perspective, the language we speak to him is to just keep having the positive intent and when he gets the opportunity to score runs that he cashes in. He will be very hungry to put in a play in this last Test," du Plessis added.