Debutant Faf du Plessis batted throughout the final day for a defiant unbeaten century to guide South Africa to a thrilling draw against Australia in the second Adelaide Test yesterday.
Man-of-the-match du Plessis occupied the crease for almost eight hours in a feat of physical and mental endurance to ensure the Proteas avoided defeat and take the three-Test series to a decider starting in Perth on Friday.
“We tried everything in our power,” said Australia captain Michael Clarke. “We had a red hot crack. It was unfortunate we didn’t get over the line. But we didn’t lose the Test so we can take a lot of positives out of that.”
It was the second time the South Africans had batted out for a draw in the series after denying Australia’s unlikely victory push in the Brisbane opener earlier this month.
“It’s (the draw) really a strengthening point for us considering we haven’t played very well,” said South Africa skipper Graeme Smith. “We had another couple of big injuries in this Test match that created a hassle for us and we still managed to scrap through after not being in great positions.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2012.
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