Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The Castle Lager One-Day International (ODI) squad will carry a lot of positives from the drawn Natwest ODI Series against England. The Proteas produced an impressive performance to level the series 2-2 at Trent Bridge, and will take satisfaction from the final result achieved under pressure.
“There was a little bit of pressure, it was a big game for us,” a delighted AB de Villiers said after the match. “The players showed a lot of character to perform under the pressure and I’m unbelievably proud, it is something to hold on to and to look forward to in the future.
“It was a very important series for us,” he added. “ We had a good series in New Zealand and against Sri Lanka before that, we didn’t want to go down in England. It is never easy here (England), they are a good unit, they know their conditions well.”
Robin Peterson was the leading wicket-taker of the series with seven wickets at an average of 21.71, with Hashim Amla continuing with his run-scoring feats with a man-of-the-series aggregate of 335 runs, including a career-best 150. There were also promising performances from debutant Dean Elgar who fronted up with a couple of gritty performances, and Wayne Parnell who made a return to International cricket with exciting spells with the ball.
“There is definitely potential there, the guys have a lot of talent,” De Villiers said about the youngsters coming in. “I would like to give them a chance going forward to really prove themselves. We all know that they can play, they are team men and they all bought into our thinking moving forward, that’s the most important thing.”
De Villiers also feels the series has given the squad a good lesson of the UK conditions, especially with the ICC Champions Trophy taking place in June next year. The ODI squad’s next fixture is against New Zealand and Pakistan at home early in the new year.
“There was a little bit of pressure, it was a big game for us,” a delighted AB de Villiers said after the match. “The players showed a lot of character to perform under the pressure and I’m unbelievably proud, it is something to hold on to and to look forward to in the future.
“It was a very important series for us,” he added. “ We had a good series in New Zealand and against Sri Lanka before that, we didn’t want to go down in England. It is never easy here (England), they are a good unit, they know their conditions well.”
Robin Peterson was the leading wicket-taker of the series with seven wickets at an average of 21.71, with Hashim Amla continuing with his run-scoring feats with a man-of-the-series aggregate of 335 runs, including a career-best 150. There were also promising performances from debutant Dean Elgar who fronted up with a couple of gritty performances, and Wayne Parnell who made a return to International cricket with exciting spells with the ball.
“There is definitely potential there, the guys have a lot of talent,” De Villiers said about the youngsters coming in. “I would like to give them a chance going forward to really prove themselves. We all know that they can play, they are team men and they all bought into our thinking moving forward, that’s the most important thing.”
De Villiers also feels the series has given the squad a good lesson of the UK conditions, especially with the ICC Champions Trophy taking place in June next year. The ODI squad’s next fixture is against New Zealand and Pakistan at home early in the new year.
