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| AB de Villiers © Gallo Images |
AB de Villiers believes what little confidence England leg-spinner Adil Rashid had heading into the one-day international series will have died after his treatment by his own team in the Standard Bank Pro20 International at SuperSport Park.
Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman inflicted enormous punishment on the 21-year-old, depositing four balls into the crowd as Rashid bowled a single over for 25 runs. He was then forced to spend the rest of the innings fielding as England captain Alastair Cook, standing in for Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, turned to part-timers Joe Denly and Kevin Pietersen instead.
De Villiers said on Monday that the South African team believed the way Rashid was handled at SuperSport Park on the weekend would wear down his confidence.
"I was up in the changeroom and we spoke about it when Joe Denly was brought on. Adil Rashid is a brilliant spinner, we all rate him, we all know he's a class bowler. He is ten times the bowler Joe Denly is and it was a slap in the face for him and it won't be great for his confidence. He's a youngster and he needs a lot of confidence," De Villiers said.
De Villiers said Rashid was unfortunate to come on to bowl when Smith and Bosman were beginning to really cut loose in their world record stand of 170 in 13 overs on a pitch that held no terrors for batsmen.
"He just bowled a couple of bad deliveries that got hit for six. It was a pretty good pitch and it was tough for the bowlers to find their length, especially for England bowling first. They reacted a bit late and gave us the start we wanted and we all know how important momentum is in twenty20 cricket. But we still felt Rashid could make a breakthrough at any time."
Smith and Bosman were also able to tear into Sajid Mahmood, Tim Bresnan, Luke Wright and Pietersen, but De Villiers said the South African batsmen could not afford to be complacent.
"They'll have a very talented attack in the one-dayers with Jimmy Anderson and if they have Stuart Broad back. Our batsmen are aware that it will be a big challenge and we've analysed them pretty well, we've played quite a few games against them. It was a shaky start for them, but Stuart Broad wasn't playing," De Villiers said.
South Africa's ODI Cricketer of the Year said South Africa's one disappointment from Sunday's Pro20 encounter was that both Jonathan Trott and Pietersen, who are expected to be under pressure to perform in the country of their birth, had managed to score runs.
"We would have liked to have got them out earlier. They both got a start, played well and have got used to conditions. They are both class cricketers but they are going to have to prove it all over again," De Villiers said.
Coach Mickey Arthur has allocated the number three berth to De Villiers and the 25-year-old made a successful start to the new position with a top-class, run-a-ball half-century against Zimbabwe in Benoni.
"Not a lot will change, Mickey and Graeme have asked me to use the same game plan. But I'm excited about a different challenge and different conditions I'll face and, at this level, being a professional means having the ability to adapt," De Villiers said.
Arthur said after that game that De Villiers's free-scoring ability means "he can set the tempo for our game, I believe he's that good. When he plays well, we will win more than we lose".
There has been speculation that Bosman could be called into the MTN ODI squad after his spectacular form - scoring 152 runs off 76 balls - in the two Pro20 games. But this is not going to happen for two reasons.
Firstly, the 15-man squad have been promised a set number of games together - three - and, secondly, Bosman's almost unique ability to pick up injuries when in prime batting form has struck again. The Kimberley product was struck on the foot during his record-breaking 94 and suffered severe bruising.
Nevertheless, the Pro20 triumph means South Africa are able to head into the ODI series confident that they can turn around the 4-0 hiding England handed to them last year and the shock defeat at Centurion in September which saw Andrew Strauss's team into the semifinals instead of the favourites.
"It was a great performance and I know the captain and coach were pretty pleased we played so well. It was important to get a win under the belt after England have dominated us in the last five ODIs. Most of the guys now have good form and confidence behind them," De Villiers said.
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