Faf du Plessis admits “relief” after Proteas first win

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis has hailed a solid showing from his side, which resulted in their first win of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

South Africa registered a convincing nine-wicket win over minnows Afghanistan in Cardiff, after bowling them out for 125 and chasing the target inside 30 overs.

This was their first win in five outings, taking their points tally to three after registering a hat-trick of defeats first up.

Speaking after the game, du Plessis noted an increased intensity, which he says bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

“I’m very relieved and I feel lighter. Our cricket today was much, much better, you could see a big difference in terms of higher intensity, which will make us more competitive.

“We’ve showed glimpses before today, but we’ve mostly played inconsistent, bad cricket, so we needed to be solid today, it was an opportunity to put a peg in the ground. We were very clinical.
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“There are two big games coming up for us next week but if we play like we did today then things can only go better.

“The first three games were not like today, forget about the opposition, it’s things we can control like just having energy in the field, with the ball, with the bat.

“There was a very good buzz today and it’s a bit of a weight off our shoulders but we know we still have to win every game.” 

Faf du Plessis

The Proteas still have a mountain to climb in order to make it to the knockout stages, with every match now a must-win.

Their next match is against New Zealand at Edgbaston on Wednesday.