After winning the first Test against England, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis termed Ben Stokes’ dismissal as huge.
“Even though Kesh (Keshav Maharaj) didn’t bowl as much as he would have liked, the wickets he got for us in the second innings were huge,” Sport24.co.za quoted du Plessis as saying.
Maharaj bowled Stokes in the second innings of the match which proved to be the turning point of the game. South Africa went on to win the first Test by defeating England by 110 runs at Centurion.
du Plessis said even though Maharaj bowled just 16 overs in the match, the team believed that he will dismiss Stokes eventually.
“We at the back of the stumps had a lot of confidence in Kesh. We kept saying that we felt in the second innings that he was going to get Ben Stokes out,” he said.
du Plessis said Stokes’ wicket was massive for the South African team as he is a match-winner.
“It was a massive wicket for us. Stokes has proven in the Ashes that if he is around, he can win the game on his own,” he added.
With this win, South Africa opened its account in the World Test Championships standings. The team gained its first 30 points in four Tests.
