Pakistan beat South Africa by 34 runs in Sunday’s rain-affected third and final ODI at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
The result gave Pakistan a three-nil series win. The Proteas had won the preceding T20I series against Pakistan.
Both teams will participate in the Champions Trophy early next year. The Proteas have been pooled with England, Australia and Afghanistan for the tournament in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.
“I know they’ll shine through when it comes to these world events, these marquee events. The guys tend to step up. They tend to bring their best cricket. We’ve seen that for two World Cups in a row,” said Proteas limited-overs coach Rob Walter.
“The reality is the lead up into the Champions Trophy won’t be anything, like the lead up to the World Cup. 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.”
South Africa collected three half-centuries during this month’s ODI series against Pakistan, who gathered two centuries and six half-tons. South Africa’s half-tons all came from wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen.
“As a batting unit, we’ve spoken about someone taking pride in getting in and getting a big century and to be fair, we just haven’t been able to convert anything into really substantial knocks or partnerships in this series,” added Walter.
“It’s not like we’re unaware. Some of it is down to batting error and others down to bowling quality and we also have to acknowledge that. I’m optimistic that when the time comes, we’ll pull together.”
South Africa currently occupy fourth position in the International Cricket Council’s rankings for ODI teams. India, Australia and Pakistan are in first, second and third position, respectively.