England will look to defend the Ashes they won in 2015. (Source: File)
After going down 1-3 in the four-match Test series against Joe Root’s side, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis believes England will have a chance to win this year’s Ashes. England travel Down Under to play a traditional five-match Test series in November. In the absence of veteran AB de Villiers, South Africa could only manage to register a win in the second Test while they lost the fourth and the last match by 117 runs at Old Trafford.
“If you have assistance and skill, which England’s bowlers have, you can target Australia’s batting line-up. They are relentless and our batting line-up wasn’t strong enough for them,” said Plessis.
Australia will be hosting England for five Test match series, which is scheduled to begin on November 25 in Brisbane. Being one of the world’s most famous sporting rivalries, England will look to defend their claim of the Ashes which they won at home in 2015.
“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,” Plessis told BBC.
After leading Proteas to a famous 2-1 series win over Australia in 2016, Du Plessis feels if the wickets provide some assistance to the quicker bowlers then Root-led England will be favourites. “I think it’s dependent on the conditions. 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,” he concluded.
