Proteas have ‘unfinished business’ in New Zealand
CENTURION (South Africa): South Africa’s cricketers have “unfinished business” in New Zealand, according to One-Day International (ODI) captain AB de Villiers.
Speaking ahead of the team’s departure for New Zealand yesterday, De Villiers said South Africa were keen to avenge their defeat by the Black Caps in a dramatic 2015 Rugby World Cup semi-final which was marked by controversy over South Africa’s team selection.
The Proteas brought in Vernon Philander for fellow fast bowler Kyle Abbott in that game, a decision made, it was claimed, to ensure four players of colour in the starting XI.
South Africa will travel as the world’s leading ODI team after completing a 5-0 clean sweep against Sri Lanka at the SuperSport Park on Friday.
In less than a week they will play a one-off Twenty20 international in Auckland next Friday, with the first of five ODIs in Hamilton two days later.
Faf du Plessis, who will captain the team in the T20 international as well as a three-match Test series which follows the ODI games, said overcoming jet lag would be the immediate challenge for the squad.
“Normally we go there and we’ve got about a week to 10 days to get over jet lag. We rested a lot of players from our (losing) T20 series against Sri Lanka but we still should have won. All our players are back now and we’ve got an opportunity to perform well in a once-off game.”
Coach Russell Domingo said: “Schedules are so tight these days but we can’t be seen to be making any excuses. We want to start the tour playing good cricket.”