‘Tigers will bite back’

Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman Quinton de Kock (below), the Man-of-the-Series in the 3-0 ODI whitewash of the Bangladeshis, expects the Proteas to be tested more by the tourists in the two T20 internationals that start in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

The old theory of the longer the format, the bigger the gap between the teams, will be put to the test by the T20s, after the Proteas enjoyed one-sided triumphs in both the Tests and ODIs, but De Kock is expecting Bangladesh to be helped by the shortest version of the game.

“I think Bangladesh will give us tough competition in the shorter format, I think Bangladesh will come back strongly. They have a couple of players with IPL experience, so we have to play well if we want to finish the series strongly,” De Kock said.

While De Kock modestly put his own great form – 287 runs at an average of 143.50 and a strikerate of 104 – down to the good batting pitches in Kimberley, Paarl and East London, he said the Proteas team were pleased with their performance despite the one-sided nature of the matches.

“It’s a job done, we wanted to win 3-0 and be ruthless about it and I think we did that perfectly. There’s always room for improvement and we want to keep our standards high even when we’re winning easily.”

De Kock said he gained much of his delight from seeing the new faces do so well.

“Winning Man-of-the-Series is a good moment in my career, it doesn’t happen often but hopefully it can happen a couple more times. But they were good pitches, especially against the new ball, you could trust the bounce and pace.

“But it’s been really nice to see young youngsters come through, I’m happy for them, they deserved it, they’ve scored the runs and taken the wickets to get them there. It’s nice to see them out of their comfort zone, it shows the amount of depth we have,” De Kock said.