After the disappointment of the one-on-one matches against Australia, some of South Africa’s white-ball cricketers return for the one-day series against the very visiting touring side.
The Proteas play five one-day matches against the Aussies from Thursday and Heinrich Klaasen is back in the group along with Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortjé.
South Africa’s World Cup campaign officially begins on October 7 against Sri Lanka and in addition to one or two warm-up matches, the pair of matches against Australia are the Proteas’ last chance to build momentum for the tournament.
The spotlight will be especially on Klaasen, who showed earlier this year against the West Indies that he can leave his mark on a game under pressure.
The Proteas, who chased 261 runs for victory in Potchefstroom, faltered with their score at 87/4, but Klaasen ended the game within 30 overs for the South Africans with his flapping bat.
He flexed his muscles, smashed 20 boundaries and scored 119 unbeaten runs from just 61 deliveries.
Add to that his batting prowess against spin bowling and the alumnus of Menlopark High School in Pretoria could be one of the Proteas’ stars at the international cricket spectacle in India.
Coach Rob Walter said after the just completed T20 series that hard work awaits South Africa.
Only Reeza Hendricks could score more than 100 runs in the three matches, while none of the Proteas’ lead bowlers conceded less than 10 runs per innings.
The experienced Lungi Ngidi failed to pick up a single wicket in the series, conceding 108 runs from his 7.5 overs.
At the same time, it was also a baptism of fire for Dewald Brevis.
The 20-year-old batsman undoubtedly has the necessary talent to be a good international cricketer, but he could only score five runs in his two innings.
“It is true that Dewald did not score many runs, but no one can argue about his talent and ability. It was good to give him an opportunity to test the waters of international cricket; he now knows what it takes to play against a very good team,” said Walter.
Brevis and Ngidi will be part of the ODI action against the Aussies.
Proteas ODI Cricket Team: Temba Bavuma (captain), Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortjé, Tabraiz Shamsi, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen.
