Duminy hails 'resilient' Proteas after landmark win

The Proteas recovered from a poor first innings and the loss of leading strike bowler Dale Steyn, who suffered a fractured shoulder, to win by 177 runs in Perth.

South Africa celebrates its Test win over Australia in Perth

JP Duminy feels South Africa's landmark victory over Australia at the WACA on Monday will have a big impact on the Test series. 

The Proteas recovered from a poor first innings and the loss of leading strike bowler Dale Steyn, who suffered a fractured shoulder, to win by 177 runs in Perth.

It is the first time since 1988 that Australia have lost a Test series opener on home soil, with the tourist able to take an unassailable 2-0 lead if it wins the second match in Hobart, which starts on Saturday.

"We came here with the expectation of putting in a big performance first up," said Duminy, who top-scored in the Test with a second-innings 141. 

"We had to change things after day one when we were behind the eight ball.

"It's huge in terms of the series. We rely on ourselves to be a resilient team and this Test showed that resilience. We'll take a lot of confidence from that going into the second Test."

Faf du Plessis, captaining South Africa in place of the injured AB de Villiers, praised his attack for overcoming the absence of Steyn from day two onwards. 

"It's never easy with [just] two seamers," he said.

"KG [Kagiso Rabada] was phenomenal, to run in for 31 overs on a deck that was still good to bat on was a great achievement, I'm really proud of him.

"We had some harsh words on day one, we wanted to come back and put in a real solid performance on day two. The way we responded was quite ridiculous to turn it around like that and since day one we've been unbelievable.

"Credit has to go to everyone, there was the big partnership between JP and Dean [Elgar]. Everyone put their hand up, even Temba [Bavuma] getting his first Test wicket."

And Rabada, who took five wickets in Australia's second innings, echoed the sentiments of his skipper.

"I'm very proud of how we pulled it together," he said.

"We lost Dale and he's a key aspect in our team. Everyone did their part and we came out victorious.

"All the bowlers have a job to do and that's to take wickets and with Dale gone we had to do extra."

South Africa on Monday selected uncapped all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius to replace Steyn for the remainder of the three-match series.