The Proteas beat Ireland by 204 runs over the weekend and their confidence is high leading into the series against the world champions.

The team sees this as the perfect preparation for the upcoming series.

In Benoni the Proteas top-order impressed with Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy as well as Farhaan Berhardien all scoring 50 plus, with going on to score a century.

Duminy who also recorded career best figures of 4 for 16 with ball says they took a lot of confidence out of the win against Ireland, but they cannot read too much into it.

“I have made a few mental changes and one or two technical changes to my game which have contributed to some decent performances of late.

“I would definitely say it’s a continuation, I’ve gained some good confidence from that first innings in the second Test so I’m happy with the state of my game.

“There have been a few technical things I’ve changed, not only with the bat but with the ball as well, it seems to be working well.

“We are still in the early stages of the season but I’m very happy with where it is at the moment.

“It’s something that I want to continue doing, which is to contribute a lot more with the ball in the shorter formats, I want to potentially bowl 10 overs in an ODI and 4 overs in a T20.”

The first ODI between the Proteas and Australia gets underway on Friday at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport