South Africa won their opening two ODI games against Australia but were crushed in the third and final match.
Following their inconsistent performances in the one-day international (ODI) series against Australia last week, captain Temba Bavuma admits the Proteas have plenty of work to do in the long-term build to the 2027 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa.
In the first two matches of the 50-over series Down Under, the SA team won the opening clash by 98 runs and the second game by 84 runs.
In the final match of the week-long campaign, however, they were handed a crushing 276-run defeat in what could only be described as a complete demolition.
And while they won the series 2-1, despite being without some senior players including fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and seamer Marco Jansen, Bavuma conceded they were nowhere near their best as they looked ahead to the global showpiece on home soil.
“To be honest, I think we’re quite far (from our best),” the skipper said.
“As you would have seen, we have new faces in the team and I think that’s all part of us being in that exploration phase, getting to understand guys and what roles they can fulfil within the team, and understanding what they bring from a personality point of view.”
Time is on their side
Bavuma was confident they had enough time to strengthen their squad in an attempt to hit their straps at the next 50-over World Cup, but he felt they were not yet displaying their full capabilities as a unit.
“We do have time. There’s about two years left, but we’re definitely not close to where we want to be as a team,” he said.
“As much as we won the series (against Australia) we felt we weren’t anywhere near our best, so I guess that’s exciting, to see us when we start playing close to 100 percent… so we just need to keep getting better as a team.”
Looking ahead to England tour
With a quick turnaround between tours, the Proteas left Australia for the United Kingdom on Monday where they were set to face England in three ODI matches next week.
Bavuma believed they would be able to take another step forward against England, who were two places below South Africa in the ODI world rankings.
“There will be another opportunity for us next week, so we’ll keep building on our strengths and keep learning from our mistakes,” he said.
