Walter confident South Africa will click before Champions Trophy

South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter is confident that his side will “pull together” before the ICC Champions Trophy in February 2025.

The Proteas suffered their first home whitewash in ODIs this month, losing the third of three matches to Pakistan on Monday by 36 runs.

Walter is not concerned about the lack of form, however, pointing towards South Africa’s tendency to over-perform at ICC events.

“I know they’ll shine through when it comes to these world events, these marquee events,” he said.

“The guys tend to step up.

“They tend to bring their best cricket.

“We’ve seen that for two World Cups in a row.”

Cricket betting sites have South Africa on the third line of betting (+600) to win the Champions Trophy, behind India (+187) and Australia (+450).

The Proteas have won just three of their last nine ODIs, having been whitewashed by Pakistan, dropping a game against Ireland in their previous series, and losing 2-1 to the West Indies before that.

“The reality is the lead up into the Champions Trophy won’t be anything, like the lead up to the World Cup,” Walter continued.

“That’s the reality of the way the schedule is stacked up.

“But at the end of the day, I’ve just got to trust in the quality of the players.

“Obviously, the switching in codes will potentially pose a little bit of a challenge to us.

“But again, it’s not like the guys have not played 50-over cricket.

“So I trust that when the time comes, we’ll be there.”

Walter also emphasised how many players his side have out of action at the moment, with many as seven fast bowlers – Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams – currently injured.

All but Burger are expected to be back in action before the Champions Trophy.

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