Du Plessis all praise for 'relentless' Proteas attack post Hobart Test win

Stand-in South African skipper Faf du Plessis has heaped praise on the 'relentless' bowling performance of his team which won them the second Test of the three-match series against Australia at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

Proteas' pacemen tore through Australia's last eight wickets before lunch on Day Four to complete a humiliating innings and 80-run defeat on Tuesday and seal the three-match Test series with a game to spare.

Kyle Abbott, who replaced pace spearhead Dale Steyn, was adjudged Man of the Match after taking 6-77 in the second innings to go with the match figures of 9-118.

Vernon Philander, who laid the platform for victory with five wickets in the first innings when Australia were bundled out for 85, however, went wicketless. Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada took the remaining four wickets in the second innings to cause a major collapse to the Steve Smith-led side.

"When you play three seamers in attack they all have to stand up at different times. I thought yesterday we were exceptional, we didn't get the rewards we wanted but to come back this morning, just make sure we were relentless in our areas... we knew if we could do those things the wickets will come and they did," Du Plessis was quoted as saying by Sport24.

"We're just relentless, we don't let the pressure go as a bowling unit, we're there all the time and in the field we back it up," he added.

The Proteas have now won their last three series in Australia, following victories under Graeme Smith in 2008 and 2012.

Smith is currently top-ranked batsmen in the world, with 15 centuries to his name in 45 Tests, but his role as a captain has been under the scanner following five successive Test defeats that also saw Australia slip to third from first in the team rankings.

Australia will further slip to fifth if they fail to stop South Africa from completing series whitewash in the third and final Test in Adelaide, starting November 24.