Cricket

Proteas back to happy hunting ground at Kingsmead

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DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 24: Hashim Amla and Kagiso Rabada during the South African national cricket team training session at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead on December 24, 2015 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images)

The Proteas aim to maintain their winning streak at Kingsmead in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The Proteas have won the last four ODI’s played in Durban, the last being the win against Australia which was the third win of a 5-0 whitewash.

Proteas opener, Hashim Amla, says the squad is motivated to continue putting in dominant performances against the visitors following the eight-wicket win on Saturday, particularly since Sri Lanka will be their opening opponents at the ICC Champions Trophy in June.

‘We play Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy so both teams take benefit from playing against each other,’ he explained.

‘Their bowling attack, be it the spinners or the seamers, you get a sense of what to expect in the Champions Trophy.

‘They have good spinners; they are a good team. We won the first game in a good fashion but we won’t look too far. We don’t know what the wicket will play like, I’m sure they are hungry to bounce back and we are hungry to try and keep our momentum.’

Amla has had a successful start to the year scoring a hundred in his 100th Test match in the third Test against Sri Lanka and top-scored with 57 in the win on Saturday. He says he is not looking too far ahead despite his current purple patch, and will be taking every match as it comes.

‘I haven’t changed anything,’ he said. ‘That’s how it goes, you go through phases where you go through a lean patch and thankfully I have managed to get some runs in the last two innings. You take nothing for granted, hopefully I can just continue scoring runs.

‘Playing at Kingsmead is always nice. We have had some good success as a one-day team here, I’ve managed to get a few runs here and there. You are always going to perform, be it here at Kingsmead or at any other ground in the country. I don’t feel any added pressure, coming here 1-0 up we want to extend our lead as a team, that is our main focus.’