Proteas upbeat despite the rain

Durban - The Proteas remain confident their preparation for the ICC World Twenty20 is on track, despite rain disrupting the T20 International series against Australia.

The first match in Port Elizabeth was abandoned without a ball bowled, and rain could also affect the remaining two fixtures before the Proteas jet off to Bangladesh on Saturday.

The Proteas, however, have the reassurance of two warm-up matches in Dhaka, before their opening match against Sri Lanka in Chittagong on March 22.

"We have two warm-up matches, one against Pakistan and the other against Bangladesh A," captain, Faf du Plessis said from a gloomy Kingsmead on Tuesday.

"That’s great for us because it will be played in sub-continental conditions.

"I've said before that I think as a team we are ready to head to the World Cup right now in terms of the form we have, but the important part of these games against Australia is guys getting time in the middle and for the guys to get more used to the white ball."

The Proteas' last T20I was a drawn series against Pakistan at home in November. The series completed an impressive run for Du Plessis' squad in 2013, where they managed to win two away series against strong Sri Lankan and Pakistani sides.

"For me the biggest key for us as a team is our reflection points," Du Plessis said.

"We beat Sri Lanka after getting hammered in the ODIs; mentally we were nowhere but managed to pick ourselves up to win the series 2-1.

"We went to Dubai and beat Pakistan 2-0 which is why I feel that we are ready for the World Cup.  

"Fourteen months ago we gave ourselves the goal of being number one or two and we have done that, we were number six when we started the process," he continued.

"We have had a great build-up to the World Cup, everything is running according to plan and now it’s a matter of getting some game time against Australia."