The return of 5 senior gamers will give the SA group a lift.
After being handed a 3-0 hiding in final week’s T20 series, captain Temba Bavuma says the Proteas are prepared to make amends in the five-match ODI marketing campaign against Australia beginning in Bloemfontein on Thursday.
The vacationers coasted to victory in the quick format, however Bavuma remained assured his group would put up a stronger combat in the 50-over video games against their perennial rivals, having been boosted by the return of 5 senior gamers who had been rested through the T20 series. They included hard-hitting batters Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, in addition to quick bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, including vital firepower to the nationwide squad.
ALSO READ: Coach calls De Kock ‘a magnificent player’ after calling time on ODI profession
“We know what to expect from the Australian team. If the T20 series is anything to go by, we expect them to come hard at us, and it will be important that we have tactics and solutions to counter all of that,” Bavuma stated yesterday.
“As a team, our focus will always be more on ourselves, in terms of what we want to do and how we want to do that, and we have confidence that if we do that, the result will take care of itself.”
World Cup preparations
Just a month out from the Cricket World Cup in India, Bavuma brushed apart recommendations that the tour against Australia was the beginning of the Proteas’ build-up to the quadrennial spectacle.
While they had been turning out in their first ODI series in five months, after a prolonged hiatus from the worldwide recreation, the skipper insisted their preparations had begun earlier this yr.
ALSO READ: Australia first, says Bavuma, as Proteas flip one eye to World Cup
“It is our last series before the World Cup, so I guess there’s more significance behind it,” Bavuma stated.
“But I think in terms of everything we’ve done, our preparation started a long time ago and it’s just a matter of continuing to challenge ourselves in terms of all the conversations we’ve been having.”
The first ODI between South Africa and Australia, a day-night fixture in Bloemfontein, begins at 1pm on Thursday.
Proteas XI, first ODI
Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada
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