Cape Town – He may not be a part of the team, but Proteas Test captain Faf du Plessis says he will be South Africa’s number one fan when they take on England in the first Test at Lord’s from Thursday. 

Du Plessis will miss the match because he is in South Africa with his wife, Imari, as she recovers after the birth of the couple’s first child. 

Imari gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday last week, but it was reported to be a ‘difficult’ birth and Du Plessis decided to stay in the country for longer than anticipated as a result. 

He is expected to be in England by the time the second Test gets underway at Trent Bridge on July 14, but Dean Elgar will captain the side at Lord’s. 

Du Plessis took to Twitter on Monday to voice his disappointment at not being able to play in the Lord’s Test, but he did have an encouraging message of support for his team-mates. 

Theunis de Bruyn is expected to slot into the middle order in Du Plessis’s absence. 

Extremely sad that I won’t be able 2 front up 2 the challenge with the team.Be there soon.In the meantime I will be their nr1 couch fan https://t.co/cycbvpPt9x

— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) July 3, 2017