Du Plessis disagrees with Amla omission

Faf du Plessis believes the selectors made the wrong decision in not returning Hashim Amla to the South Africa XI for Sunday’s one-day international against Australia.

Amla missed the opening encounter of the five-match series – which the Proteas won by six wickets – through illness and, despite being fit, was left out for the second clash at the Wanderers

It had little adverse effect on South Africa, who won by 142 runs after a superb 111 from Du Plessis, who revealed afterwards that he and head coach Russell Domingo had disagreed with the selectors’ call on Amla.

“The selectors made that decision,” he said. “They wanted to keep the same team.

“Obviously for me Hash is one of the best players in the world, but they felt that was the case.

“There’s nothing that I can do about that. Hashim averages [52] in one-day cricket, so for me you can never replace that.

“And if you miss one game for the flu then it’s always the respect that you’re given to come back into the team.

“So if it was my decision I would definitely bring him back and the same with the coach, but the selectors felt the combination at the top was working really well.

“So I suppose you can look at it from that point of view as well. But it wasn’t my decision.”

The Proteas will have the chance to seal the series when the sides meet in Durban on Wednesday.