‘We’ll bring intensity and fire’: Proteas ready for Bangladesh

The Proteas will be looking to hit their straps from the start in their One-Day International series which gets underway against Bangladesh in Centurion on Friday.

All-rounder Dwaine Pretorius says he is eager to contribute in the series opener, as the hosts target a climb up the World Super League table in an attempt to qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup.

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“I am really happy to be in the ODI side against Bangladesh and I think there is going to be some good cricket played over the next week or so,” said Pretorius.

“Bangladesh is always a dangerous team. They have some really good players in their side, so we would like to start off very well against them at SuperSport Park.

“We are not taking them for granted at all and we just want to compete as hard as we can and make sure that our standards are where we want them to be. So we are going to bring the intensity and fire and hopefully we can get the result.”

With some inclement weather having affected the country over the past couple of weeks, the Proteas will be hoping that rain stays away and that they can get in a full game. The hosts will also look to utilise the conditions as best they can.

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“I think there will be some juice in the wicket because of all the rain and weather about, so I think the first 10 overs on each bowling side will be very important,” explained Pretorius.

“If the batters can take care of those first 10 overs it’s going to be a very important part of the game, so if we can take care of that batting wise and if we can strike when we bowl, it will make our jobs easier when we go into the later parts of the game.”

The Proteas will target a clean sweep, as they achieved in the recent home ODI series against India, and a great start will of course be crucial.

“One of our main focus points is the first match. We don’t want to start from behind,” Pretorius said.

“We really believe that we are normally quite resilient as South Africans, but we don’t want to necessarily count on that. We want to throw that first punch and make sure that teams know the first game will probably be the hardest of the series for them.”