Proteas chasing 12th successive home ODI win at the Bullring

04 February 2017 - 13:33 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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Proteas' Faf du Plessis, centre, high-fives the dismissal of Sri Lanka batsman Niroshan Dickwella during the second ODI cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. File Photo
Proteas' Faf du Plessis, centre, high-fives the dismissal of Sri Lanka batsman Niroshan Dickwella during the second ODI cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. File Photo
Image: XANESH DEBIKY/ AFP PHOTO

On the special occasion of Faf du Plessis’ 100th match‚ the Proteas will also be chasing their 12th successive home win when they take on Sri Lanka in the Pink ODI at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Proteas lead 2-0 following convincing wins in Port Elizabeth and Durban and victory at the Bullring will see them wrap up the five match series with two matches to spare in Cape Town on Tuesday and Centurion on Friday.

The Proteas will be without injured David Miller‚ who scored a delightful century in the last match in Durban on Wednesday night‚ but he has been replaced by Farhaan Behardien who captained the side in the 2-1 loss during the T20s.

A full house is expected and captain AB de Villiers said he is looking forward to flexing his muscles in front of a passionate crowd that will be wearing pink as the occasion is also to raise money and awareness about cancer.

“I do enjoy the big crowds and the big moments but I think it comes down to form at the specific time. I've been in good form in the past Pink ODI's and I love playing at the Bullring. Once a guy gets going and the crowd gets very loud‚ it also gets me going and it's always great to play here. Hopefully the foundation will be laid and we'll have a bit of fun‚” De Villiers said.

“There's three games to go so we don't want to look too far ahead. If we want to win big tournaments‚ you know you have to win five or six games on the bounce and you've got to get that habit going of winning a series by way of 4-1 or 5-0 instead of 3-2‚ which we've done in the past. That kind of scoreline is not good enough anymore‚ It'll be nice to build on the 5-0 dream.”

TMG Digital/TMG Sport

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