The SA team are looking to take another step forward ahead of next year's T20 World Cup.
South Africa have put their shocking ODI defeat against England behind them, according to captain Aiden Markram, as they prepare to face the hosts in a three-match T20 International series which gets underway in Cardiff on Wednesday (7.30pm start).
The Proteas won the ODI series 2-1 last week, but they were thumped by 342 runs in the final match in Southampton.
Switching formats, Markram insisted they had shaken that off and were ready to go in the T20 series, as they looked to bounce back against England after being handed a 2-1 defeat by Australia in a three-match T20 series last month.
“The last one (against England at the weekend) was just one of those bad days, I guess,” said Markram, who attended the pre-match press conference yesterday while he was being sold to Durban’s Super Giants for R14 million at the SA20 auction.
“Generally as a white-ball group we’re feeling in a pretty decent space and it’s another exciting series ahead that starts tomorrow, and that’s pretty much where all the conversations and focus have been.”
Looking ahead to World Cup
This series was another opportunity for the Proteas to prepare for the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka in February next year, as they aimed to go one better after reaching the final (where they lost to India) at the last edition of the T20 World Cup in 2024.
Just five months out from the global spectacle, the Proteas also had another chance to consider who would ultimately be included in the final national squad.
“Trying to repeat that (2024 World Cup performance) and take it a step further, that’s sort of the long-term plan,” Markram said.
“We’re having a look at the personnel we have sort of in and around our group who we feel can contribute to us lifting a trophy, and getting those smaller combinations and pairings right.
“So naturally you come here (to England) and you want to win – by no means am I saying we’re not here to win – but we obviously have a bigger picture in mind, being that World Cup in a few months time.”
