Johnson expecting 'fiery' encounter with Proteas in upcoming ODI series

Australian ace paceman Mitchell Johnson is expecting a fiery encounter with South Africa when their squad faces them in the upcoming ODI series, but also feels that saying the teams 'hate' each other would be exaggerating the case.

The tiff between the sides goes back to Australia's Test triumph in South Africa at the start of the year and Johnson conceded that it could spill over into the five-match series, which starts at the WACA in Perth on Friday.

Johnson said that there's always tension between the two sides, but added that in the end Australia is going to South Africa on skill, as that is what they are about, Sport24 reported.

Johnson said that the Australians want to beat South Africa with bat and ball.

The pace express claimed that it's probably going to be fiery again but added that they want to play the best cricket they could. He said that both teams don't like to lose and that's where one sees the fire in the game but he feels that hate's a pretty strong word.

Johnson has not been as devastating in ODIs at his home ground as he has in Test matches, where he has taken 42 wickets at 20.19 in six matches, compared to 11 at 32.54 in nine international matches with the white ball.

However, the pacer is confident that his contribution to the team goes beyond knocking down wickets. He said that he always enjoy playing at the WACA and if he plays his role in being aggressive and doesn't get any wickets, he is happy and hopefully the team would be happy too.