Pretorius wary of Bangladesh threat: 'We don't want to start from behind'

Proteas all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius says they'll be looking to start off strong ahead of the first of three ODIs against Bangladesh.

South Africa take on Bangladesh in three ODIs and two Tests, with the first ODI set for SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

It'll be the first time since early 2020 that fans will be able to watch the Proteas in action as the stadium will allow 2 000 vaccinated fans.

The Proteas have a handsome record against Russell Domingo's charges, having won 17 of 21 ODI matches.

However, Pretorius says they won't be taking Bangladesh for granted and are eager to start the series off with a win at Centurion.

"They're always a dangerous team, they have pretty good players in their side so we like to start off really well at SuperSport Park," said Pretorius.

"We won't take them for granted, we want to compete as hard as we can and make sure our standards are where we want to be. We're going to make sure that we can bring the intensity and fire and hopefully, we can get the result.

"We don't want to start from behind, we believe that normally we're quite resilient, but we don't want to count on that.

"The team knows the first game is going to be the hardest, we know they're going to come out hard and we need to make sure we can come harder and compete and make sure we start 1-0."

For this series, former Proteas all-rounder Albie Morkel will serve as Bangladesh power-hitting coach and SA legend Allan Donald is their pace bowling coach.

Leading up to Friday's opening ODI, rain and overcast conditions have hit Pretoria.

Pretorius is looking forward to bowling on the Centurion wicket and hopes that the Proteas will perform well.

"I think there will be some juice in the wicket because of all the rain. The first 10