Proteas shift focus to T20 series against Australia

Less than a week after concluding their three-match T20 series against England, the South African cricket team will be back in action at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday for the first of three T20 internationals against Australia. This time though, the Proteas are strengthened by the return of former captain, Faf du Plessis as well as fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.

Proteas fans would have felt hard done by losing opener Themba Bavuma to a hamstring injury for this series opener against the Aussies. Bavuma, together with his captain Quinton de Kock, scored 224 runs between them in the three opening partnerships against England.

The good news for local fans, however, is that South Africa’s campaign will be boosted by the return of two senior players, Du Plessis and Rabada.

“Obviously it brings a lot of experience to our team and obviously they can help guide the younger players in the team. It’s great to have them back obviously, they bring in fresh energy,” says De Kock.

This series will see Australian opener David Warner back on South African soil for the first time since he and De Kock had an altercation on the stairwell leading to the players dressing rooms, during lunch on the fourth day of the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban in March 2018.

According to the Proteas skipper, both players have moved on and put the incident behind them.

“We haven’t had any real conversations, me and him have moved on from there. Any way we look to just play cricket, we both love to play really hard but I don’t think anything will happen. We will carry on with the way we need to go about things and we won’t worry too much about it,” says De Kock.

The match at the Wanderers is a night game and will get under way at 6pm.