Proteas take winning momentum into World Cup but not getting carried away

By Nasri Alexander
19th September 2023

Head coach Rob Walter is happy with the progress the Proteas have made in the ODI series victory against Australia but will not get carried away ahead of the team's departure for the World Cup.

The hosts came back from 2-0 down to complete a 3-2 win in the five-match series after a convincing display at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Walter and his charges will board the flight to India for the global tournament, that starts on 5 October, with good momentum with the most pleasing aspect for the coaching staff being that in all three victories different members stood up and made a play for the side.

The batting unit all got runs at different stages in the series while the bowlers stood up when the pressure mounted in all the must-win contests.

Walter said: "The best part is we won matches in different ways in this series; we won the game in Potch with spin, at SuperSport Park we won with pace and we put it all together at the Wanderers.

"In all departments we made progress and we improved. I will never be so bullish as to say we are 'there' because we are never 'there'. But we are closer to playing good cricket than when we started."

The Proteas open their World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka in Delhi on 7 October before taking on the Aussies in Lucknow five days later.

Walter feels the series win will not give his team the advantage ahead of that contest with many of Australia's first-choice players missing the tour ahead of the global showpiece.

Captain Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell were all absent while Cameron Green and Travis Head were injured at various stages.

Walter added: "We need to be careful of reading too much into this series and what it means for the World Cup.

"Their team will change and one thing we understand about Australia is that they know how to perform in World Cups.

"While we will take the momentum for ourselves as a team, we won't look too far ahead, other than to say our recent track record against Australia has been pretty strong and we need to keep that up in the World Cup."