Faf du Plessis on the flaws plaguing the Proteas in England

The Proteas’ heavy loss in the third Test against England at The Oval means they won’t win any of the three series on this arduous tour.

Disconcertingly, Monday’s latest collapse once again highlight nagging flaws in South Africa’s Test line-up.

Also read: Moeen Ali hat-trick sums up depressing Proteas defeat

Captain Faf du Plessis addressed a few of them after the match.

How can the Proteas go from rampant in the second Test to so meek in the next?

It’s amazing that both sides have been so inconsistent. I haven’t really thought about a reason for that. It’s a mystery to all of us. There haven’t been consistently good performances from any of the teams. England dominated at Lord’s, then we won 90% of the sessions at Trent Bridge and then we were never in this game. It’s been a bizarre series in that regard. Hopefully the trend continues in the last Test so that we can come out top.

Will Heino Kuhn pay a price for a poor series to date?

Opening the batting is an extremely hard thing to do, especially in England. They have a high-quality seam attack. It’s important that you consider that when you’re weighing up a fair run in the team for him. I can’t tell you exactly what the plan will be in Manchester but I think it will be fair on Heino to at least give him this series.

How disappointed was he with his own dismissal in the second innings?

The first rule of batting is to use your bat. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to do something special again. I really enjoy those situations where there’s almost no hope. I was very disappointed. It was a huge error in judgement.

What to do with the wayward Chris Morris?

I think it’s unfair to expect of him to (show the type of control that Vernon Philander does). When I look at Chris, I see a X-factor bowler. But the fact that Vernon was absent meant he had to be our “consistent” bowler and that’s not something you’re going to get from him, at least not yet. I still feel we have the type of attack that can easily trouble England.

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