Johannesburg:Ā Faf du Plessis as tired and disappointed, and it showed, when he fell agonisingly short of a maiden Test double hundred. Batting on 199 against an insipid and bruised Sri Lankan bowling attack, he saw the field being brought up after a really long time, and decided to go over the top to get to a milestone he’s never breached before.
But du Plessis mistimed against a Wanindu Hasaranga googly and was forced to walk off without a first double hundred to his name.
It’s unfortunate. I worked extremely hard to try and get a 200 today, du Plessis said. It is something I have always wanted to achieve. To get so close [and miss] is obviously not ideal. I felt really good at the crease today.
‘I feel it is a shot [over m I have played really well but execution was perhaps not 100% there. I was pretty tired at that stage. I was not in the greatest position to try and hit that for six.’
Reflecting on his gargantuan effort – his 10th 100-plus score in Tests – du Plessis reckoned he has far better centuries to his name. It is perhaps understandable he’d say that, considering he began his life as a Test cricketer with a backs-to-the-wall fourth innings century against Australia inĀ Adelaide in 2012. What’s interesting however, is that du Plessis went on to term his outing in Centurion on Monday (December 28) as a statement for his detractors.
In match situations, I’ve made a lot better hundreds. When attacks are at their hottest, when conditions are at their toughest. I wouldn’t put this close to any of those. This was more for me from a timing and a statement point of view, to make sure I proved to people out there who doubted my ability, that hasn’t changed after a season or two.
‘In fact, I am trying to make sure I can improve my performances. It’s more of that than ranking it in the top three or four.’