Cricket: SA expect more from NZ at World Cup

South African batsman Hashim Amla gets out of the way of a bouncer from Black Caps bowler Tim Southee. Photo / Alan Gibson

AB de Villiers leaves New Zealand today a happy man with signs of progress out of their ODI series win and with at least one eye on the forthcoming World Cup.

The third and final match was rained off in Hamilton yesterday, with South Africa 157-3 in 30.4 overs. However the first two games were won well.

However the champion batsman was able to find a couple of areas which need work on.

''In the second game we stumbled with the bat (losing five wickets for just three runs in the final overs). That's certainly one area I'd like to improve on," he said.

''And with the ball in the first game we should have finished it off a bit earlier. We've been working really hard on our fielding but I still believe we can improve. But certainly it's going in the right direction."

De Villiers had preached a desire to have done th basics well by the end of the tour.
''We're not far off, and the basics we did do well, certainly better than New Zealand in this tour.

''That gives us lots of confidence but it's a matter of being more ruthless in certain ares of the game," he added.

South Africa begin their bid for a first World Cup title at Hamilton against Zimbabwe on February 15, so although the game was curtailed he felt it was important the players who had not been there before got a look at the surroundings.

''I'm not huge on 'oh this is the way the wicket is going to play when we come back for the World Cup'," he said.

''No two wickets are the same and it was important for us to acclimatize to the surroundings. Even though New Zealand is similar to South Africa in the way people do things here, theer are a few little things different and it's important to me the boys experienced it so it's not a whole new different thing when we come over to the World Cup."

De Villiers, ranked the world's No 1 ODI batsman, wasn't about to give New Zealand a kicking as he prepared to leave the country either. He knows this is an unusually early start to the season for the hosts, and they were seriously short of match play.

''New Zealand are very competitive. It's obvious they didn't have the best of series now but by no means does that tell me what we can expect in the World Cup.

''We know they are a team for the big moments, they're always competitive in the field with bat and ball.

''This has been a nice run in for us, but it doesn't mean it will be okay at the cup. We know we are going to have to graft hard again."

South Africa fly to Australia for a T20 series and five further ODIs, while New Zealand depart for the United Arab Emirates on Thursday for three tests against Pakistan and five ODIs.