He reminded me of Mitchell Johnson - Du Plessis lauds Olivier's match-winning efforts
His match figures of 11-96 helped South Africa overcome Pakistan and Duanne Olivier was compared to Mitchell Johnson by Faf du Plessis.
Published : Dec 28, 2018 19:58 IST
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis compared Duanne Olivier's man-of-the-match performance against Pakistan in Centurion to a similar effort by Mitchell Johnson on the same ground four years ago.
Olivier, selected in the Proteas XI for the first Test after Vernon Philander missed out with a fractured finger, returned match figures of 11-96 as the host secured victory by six wickets inside three days.
The seamer, having taken a career-best 6-37 in the first innings, followed that up with a prolonged spell of short-pitched bowling in the second and was rewarded with 5-59 as South Africa were set 149 to win.
Hashim Amla's unbeaten 63 and Dean Elgar's 50 did the bulk of the work as the home side took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and Olivier's display reminded Du Plessis of former Australia left-arm quick Johnson, who took 12 wickets in a match-winning effort at SuperSport Park in February 2014.
"That was probably the match-turning moment," said Du Plessis of the period which saw Pakistan collapse from 101-1 in its second innings to 190 all out on day two.
"They got themselves in a position where we needed wickets. That period was an incredible effort by the bowlers, especially Duanne.
"To bowl short for that long takes a lot out of the body, as a captain it was great to have and it reminded me of Mitchell Johnson a few years ago, very uncomfortable to face."
When asked if Philander would return in Olivier's place for the second Test at Newlands starting on January 3, Du Plessis replied: "Vernon in Cape Town is like peanut butter and syrup. I expect him to come back, but Duanne has made a nice selection headache for us."
Chance goes begging
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, meanwhile, hopes to see seamer Mohammad Abbas recover from a shoulder injury in time for the next Test.
"Yes hopefully he'll be back for the second Test match," Sarfraz said in the on-field presentation.
"We're very disappointed. We had a good opportunity and lost too many wickets in that session."