SOUTH AFRICA IN SRI LANKA 20

We don't play spin badly - Du Plessis

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Can Elgar fight it out against the hosts? © PTI

There is no running from the fact that spin will continue to dominate Faf du Plessis's mind space. On the ground, at meal times, in the press rooms and at team meetings. Losing 17 wickets across two innings in a 278-run thumping at Galle certainly didn't help matters. The South African captain had to work hard at his latest press addressal to convince that his batsmen weren't as bad against spin as the two innings of 126 and 73 suggested. All they need is to weed out the 'carelessness' that can occasionally slip in.

"I don't think we are a team that plays spin badly," Du Plessis said. "If you [look] back and make references where we have had good series against spinners. Spin is not something that we mentally struggle with. There was a carelessness about our batting in Galle. We just need a change of mindset as to what we need to do to score runs in Test cricket."

In the aftermath of the Galle debacle, the South African captain had suggested that his team had adopted a very 'black' or 'white' approach to tackling spin, going into their shells in the first innings and following it up with a more enterprising (ultimately flawed) approach. For the second Test at SSC Colombo beginning on Friday (July 20), du Plessis wants his players to remain positive against spin while trusting their defence.

"You don't get to the subcontinent and try and score 100 in 70 balls or so - you score 100 off 180 balls. That is the only difference that we need to make while still being positive and making sure you make the right decision when good balls are bowled," he said.

The only centurion in Galle, Dimuth Karunaratne, was once again singled out for praise by the visiting captain for his ability to weed out risks from his shot selection. "Trusting their defence was the difference between how Sri Lanka played spin and how we played spin," du Plessis noted. "Especially Dimuth Karunaratne, who didn't take too many risks. He just played with good defence. As a captain, I wanted him to take risks but he didn't take risks. He only started hitting the ball on the air when he was something like 80.

"The thing that let us down in the first Test was that we didn't trust our defence well enough. The important part of playing spin in Test cricket is trusting your defence. We need to try and put pressure back on the spinners as well, with what you are doing. The guys worked really hard on their game plan and trying to be positive against spin - which is an element of playing spinners well. You have to also trust your defence - so that's two parts."

© Cricbuzz

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