Australia captain Steve Smith is expecting a strong South Africa response after they were beaten by 118 runs in the controversial first Test in Durban.
The Proteas - with the exception of Aiden Markram - were desperately disappointing with the bat and allowed the tourists to wrap up a comfortable victory early on the final day, a result South Africa will be keen not to repeat.
While Smith is aware that his side will be worked hard in the second Test in Port Elizabeth, he also feels that their big win has not been given the credit it deserves, overshadowed by the clash between David Warner and Quinton de Kock - and the subsequent ICC charge.
"Obviously there's been a fair bit going on the last couple of days but the boys trained well yesterday," Smith said.
"We played a really good game in Durban. It probably hasn't been spoken about much, but we played some good cricket and hopefully we can keep it up this week.
"[South Africa] are a very good side and they're probably hurting after losing the first match. No doubt they'll come back hard in this one."
Smith is happy to move on from the incident on the fourth day of the first Test, with Warner available once again, after a meeting with opposite number Faf du Plessis and match officials.
"It was nice to just have a chat and ensure that we're playing within the spirit of the game and that cricket is what is written about and talked about after this game," he said.
"It's all been about the indiscretions of the last fixture and that's not what we want for the game. Cricket has got to be the winner, so it's just about staying in line, continuing to play good, hard cricket.
"There's nothing wrong with a bit of banter out in the field. It's just making sure we're not getting personal or crossing any lines."
Comments
SHARE