De Villiers says ODI series win against NZ given Proteas lot of 'learning, confidence'

South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers has said that his squad would take a lot of learning and confidence from their 2-0 ODI series win against New Zealand.

The rain in Hamilton has not dampened the South Africa's spirits, who concluded a successful tour both on and off the field. De Villiers said that they went there with the intention of acclimatising to the surroundings; flying there, the jetlag, the crowds, even the food.

De Villiers said that it was important for the players to experience the small things that take time getting used to, adding that sometimes it's quite a culture shock when one tours a place for the first time, Sport24 reported

The skipper said that this experience would be important for them come the World Cup. He added that he thinks his side has covered the bases when it comes to that.

De Villiers has been impressed by the application of the basics with both bat and ball, but still believes there is room for improvement, particularly in the field.

He said that there are still areas that South Africa could work on, adding that they are nowhere near where they want to be. He also said that they did the basics really well, certainly better than New Zealand on this specific tour and series.

The skipper also said that the basics set them up nicely for winning both of the games, especially with the bat, if one does the basics well and have wickets in hand from overs 35 to 50 onwards, one can really hurt a bowling attack. He added that the same goes with the ball, if one strikes early on it's difficult for batting teams to come back.

The South African team travels to Sydney on Tuesday, ahead of the three-match T20 International series against Australia starting on November 5 in Adelaide, the report added.