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Durban - South Africa’s one-day captain AB de Villiers says he feels he is settling comfortably into the leadership role after coming through one of his toughest matches in charge.
The Proteas’ thrilling 34-run victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers on Sunday tested the captain’s nerves under pressure, especially during Shahid Afridi’s late onslaught.
“It gives me a lot of satisfaction to win a game like that,” De Villiers said to the media on the eve of the fourth ODI here at Kingsmead.
“The part that I enjoyed the most was the fielding, the 50 overs in the field. I felt like it was the best game that I have had as a captain so far. I felt like I had a lot more time. I used the experience of Graeme (Smith) and Hash (Amla) which is always helpful in times of need.”
De Villiers has been impressed with the death-overs execution, and feels the squad is “moving in the right direction” with only a couple of matches to go until the end of the season. Ryan McLaren, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Rory Kleinveldt have been composed and canny with their execution, more satisfying bearing in mind the occasional absence of Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel.
Conditions at Kingsmead are expected to be slower than usual, and De Villiers feels beating Pakistan in conditions favourable to them will be pleasing, as opposed to succeeding under pace and seam conditions.
“If you want to be the No 1 team in the world, which is where we want to be, we have to beat any team in any conditions that we get,” he said. “The Kingsmead wicket looks a bit drier than usual, you never know what you are going to get but if there is some turn we have to adapt as quickly as possible and beat them at their own game.”
The Proteas currently lead the series 2-1 with two matches left.
The Proteas’ thrilling 34-run victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers on Sunday tested the captain’s nerves under pressure, especially during Shahid Afridi’s late onslaught.
“It gives me a lot of satisfaction to win a game like that,” De Villiers said to the media on the eve of the fourth ODI here at Kingsmead.
“The part that I enjoyed the most was the fielding, the 50 overs in the field. I felt like it was the best game that I have had as a captain so far. I felt like I had a lot more time. I used the experience of Graeme (Smith) and Hash (Amla) which is always helpful in times of need.”
De Villiers has been impressed with the death-overs execution, and feels the squad is “moving in the right direction” with only a couple of matches to go until the end of the season. Ryan McLaren, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Rory Kleinveldt have been composed and canny with their execution, more satisfying bearing in mind the occasional absence of Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel.
Conditions at Kingsmead are expected to be slower than usual, and De Villiers feels beating Pakistan in conditions favourable to them will be pleasing, as opposed to succeeding under pace and seam conditions.
“If you want to be the No 1 team in the world, which is where we want to be, we have to beat any team in any conditions that we get,” he said. “The Kingsmead wicket looks a bit drier than usual, you never know what you are going to get but if there is some turn we have to adapt as quickly as possible and beat them at their own game.”
The Proteas currently lead the series 2-1 with two matches left.
