We played spotless cricket: Du Plessis

There could hardly have been a win more comprehensive than the one South Africa completed by 333 runs over Bangladesh on the fifth day of the first Test in Potchefstroom yesterday. However, it is a measure of South Africa's ambition and their desire for perfection that even after what he called a 'spotless' performance, skipper Faf du Plessis seemed dissatisfied with one aspect of the Test.

"Conditions-wise, when you play countries like Bangladesh, it is important that you get whatever you get from the wicket," said Du Plessis after the match when asked if he was happy with the wicket, which in its flat and slow nature was not the typical South African surface. "There wasn't much advantage for any team. The groundsman said the wicket won't spin and for three-and-a-half days, it didn't. We got that right. In terms of what we were looking for with pace and bounce it was really slow. Even some of the tail-enders were comfortable."

But otherwise, Du Plessis was delighted with the performance of his team.

"It was an all-round, spotless performance. All the things we wanted to work on, the amount of runs," the skipper said. "Over four days, we had Bangladesh under so much pressure, we knew that if we got one or two early wickets [on the fifth day], we expected the pressure would be too much and they would fall over. That's how it works with Test cricket and you do the hard graft for a while without results and then all of a sudden you get them."

One of the more aggressive captains in world cricket Du Plessis also said that counterpart Mushfiqur Rahim's defensive field placements in the second innings, when South Africa scored 248 for seven in just 56 overs virtually risk-free, eased the pressure. "They were so far behind the game. What he will try and do is stop the bleeding. Obviously he tried to attack but when he saw the batsmen were scoring runs he went very defensive trying to make sure that we don't get away. There was a period when I came in to bat and felt that it was a little bit of pressure and you need to do something to put the pressure back on them. But we got through that easily as the field was spread and it was easier to get runs on the board. So that helped us to score 4.7 runs per over, which gave us the opportunity to declare the innings a little bit earlier." 

South Africa have an injury worry as Morne Morkel, who blasted out Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque in the first over of Bangladesh's second innings suffered a side strain, did not take part on the fifth day and will miss the second Test.

"It's difficult to talk about all the domestic bowlers," Du Plessis said when asked if there were replacements. "I know the guys that are with us. We've got a few guys in and around the squad."