Faf du Plessis said that Duanne Olivier was the Proteas’ best bowler on day three, which saw them seal the series against Bangladesh 2-0 with an innings and a  254-run win in Bloemfontein. 

South Africa’s bowling unit was stricken with injuries to their senior pacemen, leaving Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel on the sidelines. This meant that a young bowling unit, consisting of Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo and Olivier had to step up and perform.

In Morkel’s absence, Olivier was handed the task of taking the new ball up front with Kagiso Rabada, and the 25-year-old finished with four wickets in the series.

Despite Rabada taking his seventh five-for on day three to complete his third 10-wicket haul and becoming the youngest South African to 100 Test wickets, Du Plessis highlighted Olivier’s performance.

‘You want to see improvement from young bowlers,’ said Du Plessis on Olivier. ‘You want to see that they can learn quickly at the highest level; the guys who can learn and get better, you can stick with them.

‘The way he [Olivier] bowled today was fantastic. I said it post-match, to bowl 10 overs on the trot consisting of short-ball work takes an incredible effort. I have to take my hat off to him, he was our best bowler today.

‘Obviously, you can’t compare any of our bowlers to KG’s skill. But from what we needed from our bowling attack today was to be ruthless and aggressive and to try and make it uncomfortable for Bangladesh. He led us from that aspect today. So I’m very proud to see that he can make those improvements.’

Olivier bowled 11 overs, took 1-39 at an economy of 3.54.

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