Proteas turn their attention to T20 Cricket after impressive test triumphs

By Ayanda Nyuswa

Following their impressive test series whitewash victory (2-0) over Sri Lanka, the Proteas men’s team will turn it’s attention to the T20 international series against Pakistan, that will kick-start at Kingsmead stadium in Durban on Tuesday. White-ball coach Rob Walter named a strong 15-member squad that sees the return of fast bowler Anrich Nortje, spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and all-rounder George Linde to the T20 set up. The team also features home favourites David Miller, Andile Simelane and Ottneil Baartman who play for the Hollywoodbets Dolphins. 

However, Rob Walter was not able to call upon the experience of key players who were involved in the recently concluded test series against Sri Lanka. This includes captain Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj, who have been rested for the T20 series, and will be up for selection in the ODI series against the same opposition between 17-22 December. 

Big hitter Heinrich Klassen will captain the side in the absence of Markram. Speaking to a media conference on Monday, Klassen says the Proteas will be searching for a series win to shake off their recent struggles in the shorter format. 

“We looking to get a series win under the belt, the boys have been spending a lot of hard work in the last couple of series’,” said Klassen. 

“It’s been close, close games and fine tuning a lot mistakes and there’s a lot of brilliance in between those series’. It’s just about fine tuning it and the boys have grafted hard at the camp just before this at tuks, so there’s a lot of positives and a lot guys that stood out so we looking forward to starting off this series at a good pace.”