The purist would baulk at the prospect of using any full internationals as warm-up matches but that is exactly what the three T20Is against Australia were.
For starters, the series really had no wider context or significance beyond the ICC T20I rankings.
However, the South Africans were quite wise to kick off their season with these three matches.
An unprecedentedly long off-season has left the players expected to go to the ODI Cricket World Cup short on match practice.
Another sign that South Africa might not have thought they were going to win the series is the absence of the Proteas white-ball finishers.
Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller were rested for the series with both players kept busy in their break with franchise commitments.
The series offered a chance for a handful of players to spend time out in the middle and get back into form.
Temba Bavuma likely doesn’t make it into the shakeup of an SA T20I side that truly wants to win things.
However, there were some positives for South Africa to take despite looking extremely rusty throughout.
Donovan Ferreira came in for the third match and has shown promising signs that he could be a handy asset for the team.
There didn’t appear to be a concerted effort put in to sort out the team’s balance with a lack of allrounders in the squad.
This points to SA needing to nail down who will be in their ODI squad.
The real acid test of the hypothesis will be how they go in the upcoming ODI series against Australia.
These matches have a much greater significance on what is to come and the Australian team they will face is slightly closer to full strength as well.
Crucially, form men Klaasen and Miller are set to return while some injury concerns have crept up on the Proteas despite their long break.
Using the T20I series as a low-pressure warmup might draw some heat for South Africa but they have to box clever in a World Cup year.
