Hobart Test: Proof that South Africa captain Faf du Plessis cheated

The South Africans, led by captain Faf du Plessis, completed the annihilation of the Australians, winning the Hobart Test by an innings and 80 runs on Tuesday. However, du Plessis could face the ire of cricket authorities for reportedly tampering with the ball during the final day of the second Test at Bellerive Oval.

Channel 9 has released footage of the South African skipper shining the ball by using saliva that had mingled with either a lollypop, a lozenge or a mint.

Law 42 of the MCC laws of cricket clearly states that no foreign substance can be used to polish the ball. “Any fielder may polish the ball provided that no artificial substance is used and that such polishing wastes no time."

Du Plessis, filling in as captain for the injured AB de Villiers, has been pulled in the past for a similar offence. In 2013, he was fined 50 percent of his match fee during a Test series against Pakistan when television cameras caught him rubbing and shining the ball with an illegal substance.

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Du Plessis was warned by umpres Nigel Llong and Aleem Dar at the end of the first Test for repeatedly throwing low passes to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock -- in an attempt to scuff up the ball.

Prior to the second Test, du Plessis rubbished claims that he was trying to scuff up the ball to help his fast bowlers. "We were watching the first innings in Perth and they (Australia) got the ball to reverse in the 25th over.

"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," said the captain of South Africa, who will now lead his team to a dead rubber in Adelaide starting Nov. 24.

Funny enough, Australian quick bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were stunned at the way their counterparts could swing the ball while they couldn't in their home turf.

“We’ve talked a bit about it, they got it going pretty well in both innings in Perth which is quite rare in Perth."

“We tried our best to get it going and can usually get it going if conditions suit, it was a bit frustrating only getting a little bit of movement here and there," Hazlewood, who finished with figures of 6/89 in Hobart, was quoted by news.com.au as saying.

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Such tactics are typically used to help fast bowlers generate reverse swing. During the 2005 Ashes, England batsman Marcus Trescothick admittedly used mint-induced saliva to maintain the shine on the ball.

It would be interesting if the International Cricket Council (ICC) or Cricket Australia investigate the incident and charge du Plessis. If a hearing is conducted, du Plessis would have to plead guilty to the alleged charges.

Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis will continue to lead the Proteas in AB de Villiers' absence. Du Plessis said Wednesday that his team are eying a 3-0 whitewash of the Australians.

"That is the mission for us now. We want to do that very badly. We won't rest on our laurels and be happy with 2-1 or even 2-0. We've got Australia in a position where they are under pressure and we don't want to let that go. It's hard enough to get them in this position so we will do everything we can to make it 3-0," said du Plessis.