Faf du Plessis’ resilient side are out to make history as they hunt a third consecutive series victory over a ‘hurting’ Australia. 

The Proteas are on the verge of emulating the intimidating West Indies teams of the ’80s-’90s with three straight series wins in Australia after their convincing victory in Perth.

Du Plessis, deputising for injured skipper AB de Villiers, says he has a team full of resilient characters while Australia will be ‘hurting’ from their fourth straight Test defeat.

South Africa have shown their strength under pressure with series triumphs on their last two trips to Australia in 2008-09 and 2012. They have lost only one of their last seven Tests in Australia.

‘We rely quite heavily on being a resilient team, we’re full of resilient players and personalities,’ Du Plessis told reporters at Bellerive Oval.

‘The guys put their hand up and fight extremely hard to get back into the game. It’s always been a strong part of this team,’ he added.

South Africa fought back after being dismissed for 242 on the first day in Perth to wrest control from the home side and dominate the remainder of the Test.

‘If you want to win Test matches you’ll get small opportunities in games where it’s 50-50, where either you take that pressure and get through that moment to get on top again, or you don’t and you fall behind the game,’ he said.

‘Luckily for us in the previous Test match we could do it more than they did. They had that opportunity and they let it slip.’