Proteas’ bowlers are eager to prove a point on the so-called batter-friendly pitches at the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan.

Spin bowler Keshav Maharaj says high-scoring matches will give the bowlers an opportunity to show their worth.

The South Africans will get their campaign underway against Afghanistan in Karachi on Friday.

Afghanistan stunned the Proteas when they won their previous ODI series 2-1 in Sharjah in September last year.

But now, the South Africans have an opportunity to make amends on the big stage at the Champions Trophy tournament.

Maharaj says the squad is looking forward to the challenge and the bowlers, especially, want to prove a point on batter-friendly wickets.

“I think it is a wonderful opportunity to see the class within our bowling line-up stand up and defend these scores. Although they might seem high in the context of cricket, it’s actually on par to get probably 320 these days when batting first. Guys are chasing it down in the 45th, 46th over. I think it’s a brilliant advert; it’s a nice test. I think as cricketers, if you’re not tested in your chosen skill, you’re probably not going to challenge yourself to get better.”

VIDEO | Proteas’ last clash with Afghanistan was in the T20 tournament: 

High scores have become par for the course on Pakistan’s flat pitches. Maharaj, however, says the batters in the squad are by no means complacent.

“The guys have been working really hard. It was nice to give everyone a little bit of a hit the other night and to see the guys go through their processes and getting ready for this major event. I don’t think there’s any sense of complacency even though conditions are deemed to be in the batters’ favour.”

South Africa have lost their last six ODI matches and want to return to their winning ways. The squad is experienced and committed to making the country proud.

“With this unit that we have here, I don’t think we’ve been together as a full squad for any of the prior series, so we don’t look too much into that. We know when we come to these major events what’s at stake and how we can turn up as a unit. I think the brilliant part of this squad is, a lot of us have been playing together since 2017/2018. So, that experience we can draw together is something that propels us at these tournaments.”

The match at the National Bank Stadium gets underway at 11 o’clock South African time.