Captain Faf the difference as Proteas get up off the canvas
Five days after they were laid low at Lord’s‚ South Africa rose from that canvas to fight on at Trent Bridge
Nottingham — Was it the reassurance that returned with Faf du Plessis‚ the emotion engendered by the plight of Russell Domingo‚ or the removal from the chain of weak link JP Duminy? Whatever it was‚ it earned South Africa a crushing victory over England in the second test at Trent Bridge on Monday. The visitors were home with more than a day to spare‚ winning by 340 runs. If the weightiness of the scoreline seems familiar it’s because England won the first test by 211 runs inside four days at Lord’s last Sunday. Du Plessis‚ the cricketer most comfortable with captaincy‚ missed that match: he was at home marvelling at his and wife Imari’s firstborn. Domingo‚ an increasingly revered coach in his own dressing room‚ didn’t see the end of it: his mother‚ who was seriously injured in a car accident last month‚ had taken a turn for the worse and died in the hours after the last wicket fell. Duminy‚ as selfless a servant as a team could have‚ played what may be his last test: seven complete...
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