South African skipper Faf du Plessis has finally recovered from a shoulder injury and is set to feature in the third and final One-Day International against Zimbabwe on Saturday in Paarl.
Having won the first two games, the hosts have already sealed the series but du Plessis said that there is still plenty to play for. Talking about the same, Faf said, “The guys have been training hard. 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, but there is also 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.”
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He further added, “The players are motivated and driven to put in performances to put their names into the hat for the World Cup selection. 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.”
Despite the fact that the Proteas have already taken an unassailable lead in the series, their performance in the first two ODIs wasn’t up to the mark. They were reduced to 58 for 4 in the first match and 101 for 7 in the second ODI before the lower middle-order came to their rescue on both the occasions. The main reason why South Africa are 2-0 up in the series is that of their bowlers.
Describing the same, Du Plessis said, “The bowling has been exceptional once again. That is what we are working to get better on, from overs 11 to 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. It (batting) has been difficult with the wickets that we have been playing on. I am hoping tomorrow will be a lot different. That is what you want to see, you want big runs on the board and games going on a bit longer.”
Once the ODI series is done and dusted, the two teams will then be involved in a three-match Twenty20 International series starting from October 9.
