Proteas captain Faf du Plessis believes their plans are coming together nicely ahead of next year’s World Cup.
South Africa won the three-match series against visitors Zimbabwe 3-0 on Saturday after winning the final ODI by four wickets in Paarl.
But while their opposition was perhaps not the best in the world, the Proteas learned a few things about themselves.
One of them was that big-hitting wicketkeeper/ batsman Heinrich Klaasen is a worthy replacement for Quinton de Kock.
Having bowled out Zimbabwe for 228, Klaasen (66) and opener Reeza Hendricks (59) both scored half-centuries as SA cruised to victory.
Klaasen won the Man of the Match award for his knock that included six fours and a six.
And of his batsmen, Du Plessis says: “It was really good to see especially the batting – a few guys getting in and playing some really good innings.
“It is something we would have liked to see a bit more throughout the series.
“The bowling was really good in all three games.”
The Proteas experimented by opening the bowling with spinner Imran Tahir.
And Du Plessis admits that this is something they are looking to do at the World Cup.
He explains: “On a really good wicket, I was really happy with the way Imran opened up the innings. It just adds a different dimension to us as a bowling attack.
“We’re very happy that he did that role – he hasn’t done that in the past.
“It’s about adding some firepower – there are one or two guys in the circuit that isn’t as good against spin straight up with the new ball. And from the brainstrust we were thinking to expose that.
“If you’re playing [Tabraiz] Shamsi – he’s got some X-factor in the middle. I also noticed that some teams understand his [Tahir’s] threat in the middle… we want Imran to always get wickets.”