CAPE TOWN: Australia clinched the series with a six-wicket win in the third and final Twenty20 international against South Africa at Newlands on Wednesday, but both teams believe they have reason to be confident ahead of the World Twenty20 in India next week.
Australian captain Steve Smith said the series win, built on strong batting performances in the last two matches, were an ideal boost for his side.
South African captain Faf du Plessis said he was disappointed to lose the series but believed his team had played good cricket in all three matches.
“We need to look at where we made mistakes,” said Du Plessis after Australia chased down a target of 179 with four balls to spare.
“Credit to Australia, they chased down what we thought was a good score. They kept playing aggressively and kept scoring boundaries. How you win games like that is to get one or two wickets and squeeze the opposition but we couldn’t do that.”
But Du Plessis said South Africa could do well in India.
“This team has got really good results in the sub-continent, so we’ll be really confident. But we’ve got a lot of work still to do before the first game. Our basics at crucial times let us down.”
Smith did not attend the press conference after the match but praised his players at the post-match presentation and said they would be confident going into the tournament in India.
