Balanced England can win Ashes, says du Plessis

Reuters: England have the right balance to beat Australia at this year’s Ashes series, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has said after his team’s 3-1 series defeat by Joe Root’s side.

Hosts England completed their series victory with a 177-run win at Old Trafford on Monday in a keenly contested series.

Australia will host England for five tests in one of the world’s most famous sporting rivalries with the first match beginning on Nov. 23 in Brisbane.England’s opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad is expected to bear most of the burden of keeping Australia’s batsmen in reins and the pace duo received a lot of praise from du Plessis.

“If you have assistance and skill, which England’s bowlers have, you can target Australia’s batting line-up,” du Plessis told the BBC.

“They are relentless and our batting line-up wasn’t strong enough for them.

“Australia have fiery and quick batsmen so England will need to get through them. (But) I think England could be Ashes winners. They have a balanced team.”

Du Plessis captained his side to a famous 2-1 series victory Down Under last year, prompting wholesale changes in the Australian squad under Steve Smith.

The 33-year-old said England would have an even better chance of succeeding if the wickets provide some assistance to the quicker bowlers.

“I think it’s dependent on the conditions,” du Plessis said.

“I’ve always felt Australia as a team play really well on flat wickets, bouncy flat wickets, (but) if the conditions allow a bit of seam and swing and spin, then I think England will be favourites.”

England win, secure 3-1 series victory over South Africa

Manchester, England (Reuters): Spinner Moeen Ali crowned his excellent series by taking five wickets as England beat South Africa by 177 runs in the fourth test on Monday to secure a 3-1 series victory.

South Africa, needing 380 to win, were bowled out for 202 on the fourth day with Man of the Series Moeen taking 5 wickets for 69 runs and James Anderson claiming 3 for 16.

The only real resistance came from Hashim Amla (83) and skipper Faf du Plessis (61), who put on a 123-run fourth-wicket partnership.

But three quick wickets from Moeen put an end to any thoughts of a miracle and ensured England their first home series win over South Africa since 1998.

Moeen, who scored an unbeaten 75 in England’s second innings, became the first player to score 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four-match test series.