'T9' was good for Proteas

Birmingham - The T20 International against England, which was affected by Monday night's rain, has given the Proteas the ideal preparation leading into the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka, assistant coach Russell Domingo said.

The match, which was reduce to a nine overs a side contest, was abandoned before the allotted overs to constitute a match were bowled, but some key fundamentals were taken from the abandoned result.

"I don't think the national side has been involved in a lot of these shorter type of games, so going to the World T20 where those situations could be a possibility is probably a great exercise for us," Domingo said here on Tuesday.

"It gave us some idea of how to approach our innings, how to approach our defence when we're bowling, and our strategies in those situations. There was massive value in having a shortened version, because that is a distinct possibility going into a World Cup."

Hashim Amla top-scored with 47 off 30 balls, and held the innings together during an erratic display of batting from the Proteas.

The strategy to give all the big hitters a strike upfront meant an unusual number seven position for Jacques Kallis, who was unbeaten on 13 off seven balls.

"Hashim hasn't played a lot of T20 Internationals," Domingo said.

"He is still finding his feet and trying to find his strategy in T20 cricket. There is a massive difference between ODIs and T20 cricket."

Domingo praised Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel, who bowled superbly in the opening overs, showing impressive degrees of control and composure.

"Yesterday's bowling conditions suited our type of attack, there was a bit of pace in the wicket. The lengths Morné [Morkel] hits are always going to be difficult because of the levels of bounce. It was a good opening spell from our bowlers, which put England under pressure."

South Africa take a 1-0 series lead into the final clash at Edgbaston on Wednesday.