Time for Proteas to face the real test

27 August 2014 - 02:15 By Telford Vice
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

The phony war the Proteas have been fighting in Zimbabwe ends today in the form of the ODI against Australia in Harare.

But South Africa's awakening is unlikely to be rude. In fact, all AB de Villiers needs as his team face their stiffest challenge yet on their trip north of the Limpopo is his memory of last season's Newlands Test between today's opponents.

With that series locked at a game a piece, the third Test threatened to come apart at the seams as the tension rose along with Australia's push for victory, which they achieved by 245 runs.

Hot words were slung like bullets, several of them by Michael Clarke at Dale Steyn - who levelled his bat at the Aussie captain, causing the umpires to step in.

"It was a hard-fought series, but there are no hard feelings," De Villiers said yesterday. "We didn't expect anything less. It's always a tough series. I'm expecting to see more of that in this series."

But De Villiers warned that not everyone in the Proteas dressing room held his benign view of the Aussies' sledging habit.

"They can't expect us to be mates with them off the field if they get very personal," he said.

And SA will not expect Australia to roll over like Zimbabwe have done in the Test and three ODIs, all of which the Proteas have won.

The Aussies made their intentions plain in the first match of the triangular series on Monday.

They racked up 350/6 - the highest ODI total made at Harare Sports Club - and dismissed Zimbabwe for 152 inside 40 overs to win by 198 runs. It's their biggest victory over the Zimbabweans in this format.

De Villiers, however, opted for understatement: "We analysed it in our meeting and I watched a couple of overs," he said. "It was a one-sided game. Australia obviously played well and deserved to win."

The plain truth is that Australia took the fight to Zimbabwe in a way SA have not. They did not hold back in their attacks with bat and ball, and won in style. SA, by contrast, did not do much more than what was required of them.

"I'm very happy with the way we've performed," De Villiers said. "I won't say we're the perfect unit; there's lots of room for improvement . but I thought we played very well."

Bizarrely, he also had kind words for the home side: "Zimbabwe are a very dangerous ODI team, especially in their own country, and I won't be surprised if they upset the likes of Australia in this series - hopefully not us."

De Villiers and Hashim Amla, who were both rested for the third ODI against Zimbabwe, will no doubt return to action today. So, in all likelihood, will Steyn and Morné Morkel, who put their feet up for the entire series.

Clarke remains a doubtful starter with a hamstring injury that kept him out of Monday's game.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now