Proteas Captain, Faf du Plessis, responded to accusations of ball tampering in the first Test in Perth. 

Du Plessis was warned by the umpires for deliberately bouncing the ball along the ground to rough it up, but he said there was no unfair advantage as Australia also got the ball to reverse swing.

‘I think it’s been blown out of proportion. We were watching the first innings in Perth and they (Australia) got the ball to reverse in the 25th over,’ he said in Hobart, where the second Test starts on Saturday.

‘I was quite impressed. I was trying to see how they were doing it because that meant they were doing something right. Twenty-five overs is very early for ball to reverse.

‘We are a bowling attack and we enjoy bowling with a swinging ball. To say it was only for us is not true.

‘It was 50-50 the amount of reverse swing throughout that Test. The Aussies did it really well.’

Reverse swing is unlikely in Hobart due to the damp, lush weather conditions.

‘Perth was really dry and extremely hard. It will be different here,’ Du Plessis said. ‘It is lush, it’s green, it’s soft, it’s wet. It will seam and swing, but won’t reverse that much.’

Forecast rain may thwart South Africa’s hopes of clinching the three-Test series in Tasmania.