South Africa vs Bangladesh 2017: Five positives for South Africa from the series
Following South Africa's disappointing tour of England, the team needed a bit of a lift in their home series against Bangladesh. Needless to say, South Africa were expected to win the series comfortably, but they needed to send a message of sorts by beating Bangladesh comprehensively and they did just that in the Test and ODI series.
The crushing victories in the two Tests and three one-dayers so far were brought about by the collective excellence of the team and the return to form of some of the key personnel. Let's take a look at 5 of the biggest positives for South Africa from this series in terms of individual achievements.
#5 Faf du Plessis comes out of a slump
South African captain Faf du Plessis is a rock in the team's middle order in both Tests and one-day internationals. However, his recent poor form was one of the factors behind the team's dismal show in England. He played in 3 out of the 4 Tests and averaged 28.50, with 2 fifties to his name (highest 63). Even Vernon Philander scored more runs (177) than du Plessis (171) in the Test series.
In the ODI series, he scored 67 in one of the innings but could only muster 21 runs in total in the other two. So, the series against Bangladesh was an important one for him and he needed to get back to form.
In the Tests, he batted thrice and scored 242 runs in total, with one century and one fifty. In the ODI series, du Plessis batted twice and although he did register a duck in one of the games, he also scored an unbeaten 91. It seems he is back in form and this is definitely a big positive for South Africa.