Cricket
Proteas win means nothing
2011-02-16 22:47
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Hashim Amla (Gallo Images)
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Eduan Roos
Bangalore – One victory over Australia does not make the Proteas world champions.
That was the warning from Hashim Amla after they comfortably beat Australia on Tuesday evening in the last of their two warm up games ahead of the 2011 World Cup.
Amla, who shone with the bat for a second successive time in the warm-ups, did not want to read too much into the victory in spite of it being by the large margin of seven wickets.
Captain Graeme Smith and Amla both retired from their innings’ to give other players batting practice.
“It’s always nice to win and even more so when it’s against Australia. The aim of these games is to give each guy the opportunity to get used to the conditions and gain confidence,” said Amla.
“Beating them will do wonders for the team’s confidence, but we realise that the Aussies were experimenting and that matches in the tournament are played with 11 rather than 15 players.”
South Africa also beat Zimbabwe at a canter and again underlined their status as favourites to be crowned world champions for the first time in six attempts on 2 April.
He aimed a swipe at Aussie vice-captain Michael Clarke, who dismissed his team’s defeat as “little more than a solid net practice”.
Clarke stood firm on his view that the defeat was not a psychological blow for the Aussies in their bid to win the trophy for a record fifth time (and fourth time in succession).
“South Africans want to win every time they walk on the field, so there was no problem with our attitude and intensity,” said Amla.
“Australia remain an excellent side. They beat England 6-1 in their recent one-day series.”
The Proteas’ dominance in their two warm-up games has meant that Colin Ingram and Morné van Wyk have not had opportunity to bat. However, Amla does not believe there is reason for concern.
“Colin and Morné are training extremely hard and are in good nick in the nets. I am sure they will be 100% ready.”