Proteas targeting Pakistan sweep to take into WTC final

The final Test against Pakistan has suddenly taken on a lot more meaning for the Proteas as they gun for their seventh straight Test win and fourth straight Test series triumph when the New Years Test gets under way at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.

A breathtaking two-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test secured the Proteas place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final to be battled out at the home of cricket, Lord’s in London, in June, where they will face either Australia, India or Sri Lanka.

Australia are the front runners, needing just one win in their final three Tests, one against India and two against Sri Lanka, to qualify, but if they are unable to win any of them it will open the door for the other two sides to sneak into the final.

If the Proteas front up against the Aussies or India it is going to be a massive challenge, as they rarely get to play against the “big three”, and when they do it is usually a two-Test series, so a one off game against one of them will always be a tough ask.

However, if Sri Lanka somehow sneak in, which is unlikely as they need India to beat the Aussies and then sweep Australia themselves 2-0 in their Test series, the Proteas will be a lot more confident after they swept the Sri Lankans 2-0 in their home Test series in December.

Decent opposition

Regardless who they play the Proteas will need to find some decent opposition to front up against in the build up to the final to prepare themselves as best as possible.

This coming Friday’s game against Pakistan is their last official Test before the final in June, with plenty of limited overs cricket set to be battled out until then.

They will thus want to finish off their Test Championship pool campaign on the best possible note and a powerful win over Pakistan, after they just edged them in the first Test, would be the best way to do that.

The next assignment for the Proteas players will be the local T20 tournament, the SA20, followed by the 50-over Champions Trophy in Pakistan, and then the Indian Premier League, as well as a few other T20 tournaments around the world.

There is currently no long format cricket scheduled for any of the Proteas players in the build-up to the final, although coach Shukri Conrad admitted that they would need to set up a number of camps and find some strong opposition, saying:

“We will have to find some good opposition to prepare properly for Lord’s … maybe someone can come out here, and we’ll have to hold some camps, too.”

Luckily the Proteas will not be alone as whoever they face will be in the same boat as Australia and Sri Lanka will battle out the final two Tests of the WTC schedule in February, so they will also need to find some long format opposition to take on leading up to the finale.

In all it is set to be an interesting six months heading into the Proteas biggest Test match in years.