Proteas must use momentum going into Ireland series, says Rob Walter

Despite being stunned in a shock defeat to Afghanistan last week, Proteas limited overs coach Rob Walter says his team can take plenty of positives into their campaign against Ireland.

The SA squad, who lost 2-1 to Afghanistan in their ODI series in Sharjah, will face Ireland in two T20 Internationals in Abu Dhabi this weekend, followed by a three-match ODI series.

Though they were thumped in their first two games against giant killers Afghanistan, Walter was pleased that they were able to bounce back and win the third and final clash.

He was also particularly delighted with the quality of fielding by the second-string squad, which was missing some senior players who were being rested.

“The way we finished is a massive positive. I think our fielding throughout the series was also excellent,” Walter said.

“We had a couple of narrow shaves for runouts in game two and we managed to convert a couple in the third game, but the fielding intent and energy throughout the series was excellent.”

Stronger from the start

Walter felt they could take some momentum into their matches against Ireland, having performed better with bat and ball in the third game against Afghanistan.

He admitted, however, that they needed to get off to a better start against the minnows, with the first T20 match against Ireland taking place on Friday.

“We’ve had little bits of exciting cricket along the way (against Afghanistan) and in the third game we potentially brought it together a little bit better,” Walter said.

“So we’ll certainly take that as a little bit of momentum, but we’re still not happy with the way we started the series and we need to be better with that.”