South Africa are on the verge of sweeping the Australians as their five-match ODI series comes to a close on Wednesday night, although Proteas captain Faf du Plessis wants his side to assert their on-field actions too.
Du Plessis said he wishes his side could win the body-language battle against the Aussies in the final ODI, which he believes could give them an edge in the three-Test series in Australia starting early November.
"As a captain, its important the intensity we play at. That does not always mean verbally, it's body language and the way you carry yourself on the field," du Plessis said.
"When there is a battle that asks for another battle to come their way, that will happen. We are a team that will stand up against that. If that's required of us as a team, we will also go into that space, but its a very focused and channeled aggression; more of a body language thing.
The current series hasn't gotten too physical, although during the fourth game Matthew Wade and Tabraiz Shamsi had a verbal stoush as Wade grazed past Shamsi while running a single.
The pair were fined and the matter was resolved relatively quickly, but given Du Plessis' call for better body language, he's proud of the way his bowler acted.
"It's just showing the opposition you are here to play, no matter how many games you have played," du Plessis said.
"Shamsi has only played three ODIs but he showed he is there to compete, no matter who is on the other side. It was good to see we can also step it up in that department."
The Proteas are just one win away from a whitewash this series, which is an added incentive for Du Plessis given whats right around the corner.
"We want to reach higher levels and achieve greater things than anyone else. From that perspective 5-0 is very important," du Plessis said.
"The fact that the Test series comes straight after this and 60% to 70% of both teams' players are the same, the motivation of 5-0 will mean a lot to me."
