Faf du Plessis questioned the Australia selectors for resting key players in the ODI series as the whitewash stunted their confidence.

The Proteas captain was honest when asked if he thought Australia’s selectors made a mistake by resting their best bowlers for the ODI tour.

Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were both rested and Du Plessis believes that Australia missed out on much-needed confidence and momentum leading into the Test series.

‘I definitely think so,’ said du Plessis.

‘We came across here with a lot of confidence. We did expect a really tough challenge because it’s a different team and a full-strength team with two key players in Starc and Hazlewood (returning).

‘Certainly, not facing them is better than facing them.

‘The confidence from coming over five-nil has helped us a lot and I think it will be the same case going into that last Test match.

‘We’re a confidence team and making sure we do the basics well and if we do that we’ll keep pressure on the Australian team.’

South Africa claimed a series win against Australia with two dominating performances, winning the first Test by 177 runs and the second by an innings and 30 runs.