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De Villiers On The Attack

De Villiers On The Attack

South Africa one-day skipper, AB de Villiers, says that the Proteas are building for the future and want to play 'attacking' 50-over cricket.

Having gone to the top of the world Test rankings with some electric live scores results, South Africa are now looking to build on that success by improving on the ODI stage.

De Villiers' men have slipped below England in the one-day world rankings, with the two sides set to do battle in a five-match series.

The South African squad is much changed over the last couple of years, and the captain is keen to plan for the future in the 50-over game.

De Villiers stated: "We are trying to build a brand of cricket that we want to play. We want to be playing attacking, good cricket."

"I'd like to think of us a team that has done fairly well under pressure. We're a very good fielding unit, have a lot of youngsters in the team."

Despite England's impressive recent record, with 10 ODI wins on the bounce, de Villiers believes that the home side are a batsman light in their line-up.

The South Africa skipper says he thinks Alistair Cook's men are a "little bit light in the batting department", which is an area he feels his team can attack.

England have responded well to Kevin Pietersen's controversial decision to retire from international limited-overs cricket, beating Australia 4-0 in their recent series.

Cook's squad includes the returning Ravi Bopara, as well as all-rounders, Tim Bresnan and Samit Patel, and recent Test selection, Jonny Bairstow.

England's decision to push wicket keeper, Craig Kieswetter, up the order is the main reason why they are a batsman "light", but he accepts that they are a "wonderful" one-day team.

The tourists also go into the series in good form, both on paper and in the odds betting, having won their last three ODI matches and six of the last eight 50-over fixtures this year.