Under-fire for his involvement in ball-tampering controversy that rocked the world of cricket recently, South African's Faf du Plessis answered back to his critics by becoming the first captain to score a century in a pink-ball Test today.
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Leading the side in the absence of injured AB de Villiers, Du Plessis lost 100 per cent of his match fee after he was found guilty of ball tampering in the second Test against Australia at Hobart. Despite the ICC's decision, Du Plessis put his foot down and said that he is still 'innocent' in the matter.
However, all of that can be put to rest as he scored a superb century at the Adelaide Oval on the first day of the third and final Test against Australia, who are staring at a first series whitewash at home in a long long time.?
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Almost everything went right for Du Plessis. From winning the toss to rescuing the side from a precarious 44 for 3 in the first session, to scoring his sixth Test century, to ultimately effecting a bold declaration with 12 overs to bowl at the inexperience Aussie batting line-up.
It was Du Plessis' 118 from 164 balls that stole the limelight on a picturesque setting at the Oval. He struck 17 fours, each of them with an attitude of 'let my bat do the talking'.
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For Du Plessis, it was like homecoming at the venue where he scored his first Test fifty and hundred, that too on debut, four years back. He was coming off a rough patch with the bat in this series with scores of just 37, 32 and 7 in the three previous innings in two games.?
Du Plessis' ton got a lot of praise from twitter users and former cricketers.
And not just his hundred, Du Plessis' decision to declare South Africa's first innings was termed as a bold move.
At the end of first day's play, Australia are tralining South Africa's 259 for nine declared at 14 for no loss with Usman Khawaja and debutant Matt Renshaw at the crease.?