Proteas looking to kick on from West Indies in Ireland ODI series

Rassie van der Dussen believes that the successful style of T20 cricket the Proteas played in the West Indies can be transferred and honed in their three-match ODI series against Ireland that starts at Malahide in Dublin on Sunday.

The focus of the South African team, and all other international outfits, is currently on the T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE in October. But Van der Dussen said on Thursday that there are aspects of the ODI game that will help their preparation for the shortest format as well.

“For the batsmen, in 50-over cricket you get time in the middle which you don’t always get in T20, especially for those of us in the middle-order. Because you’ve got more time, you’ve got bigger scope to identify where your game is at and you can get yourself in properly. So ODI cricket is a good reference point and a real opportunity to nail down your plans,” Van der Dussen said.

“The last five overs of the innings was probably one area we weren’t too happy with against the West Indies and what we do in this series against Ireland is definitely transferable and we have a few more balls to get used to the conditions in 50-over cricket.

“In T20 cricket, sometimes you only have 10 balls to make an impact, hit some boundaries, and that’s where we came up short,” Van der Dussen said.

Role change

For the 32-year-old Van der Dussen, the job becomes harder because he tends to bob up and down the batting order, meaning his role changes from innings to innings.

“In the West Indies I came in a bit later than usual, but you have to be adaptable and bring the right skills on the day,” he said.

“I know where I came up short and I’ll be trying to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes again in this series. I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating only facing 10 balls because the reality is if you’re coming in No 4 or 5 and there are only 10 balls left then it means the top three have done their job.

“So that’s good for the team. Sometimes you lose early wickets and then you need to grab the opportunity to bat for a long time and do the job of a top-order batsman.

“There are six or seven guys who need to get the runs for the team and it doesn’t matter who gets them.”