Duminy expects India fightback in ODI series

Cape Town – If JP Duminy can take his T20 form into the upcoming ODI series in India, the Proteas will be smiling.

The visitors clinched the second match at Cuttack while the third at the Eden Gardens was a washout on Thursday.

We have had a good look in the two games and know what we can expect of the South Africans but in the one-day competition, we understand our game well. “No matter what challenges we face, we face it head on”, said Duminy.

Duminy, who was declared man of the tournament, dubbed the series win as great achievement.

“To bowl out India for 90 odd doesn’t happen. We know the workload on fast bowlers can be challenging”. That was a big plus for us; the way we bowled, the discipline we showed within our bowling department.

“Obviously the conditions… We know the ball is going to spin a lot, the crowd support is huge, the passion for the game, the constant scrutiny from the media and public. So that’s a good performance from us going into the world cup in a few months time”, said Duminy.

Duminy, for example, was “changing nappies” of his newborn daughter. “But, I still believe that there is a lot more to come from myself, and I can still contribute a lot more not only with bat but with the ball”. “I would definitely put it down as one of my better innings, especially in global cricket in the shorter format”, he said. “I guess the key for me is to stay hungry to perform”, the South African all-rounder said. “But that first game is definitely a step in the right direction for my confidence especially the way we finished”, he said. South Africa’s Mr. 360 AB de Villiers will lead a very capable unit of batsmen and bowlers against MS Dhoni’s pool of young and exciting players.

The ODI leg is beginning with Kanpur on Sunday and Duminy added that his side would once again look to make a strong start.

While the advertisements for the ongoing Nelson Mandela-Mahatma Gandhi series, including three T20Is, five One-Day Internationals and four Tests, have focussed on the fact that the 72-day tour is South Africa’s longest to India, Domingo’s calculations are different. The two teams will now travel to Kanpur for the start of the ODI series.

“Our focus is on Kanpur and hopefully we can start off well in that series as well”.

“That is going to give us a lot of confidence”.

Domingo said that even though they are happy the way they have started off the 72-day-long series, it would be advisable to take one game at a time.