The Proteas need to cut out the mistakes and build momentum heading into the Champions Trophy, says Faf du Plessis.

The 72-run loss to England was highlighted with uncharacteristic failures by South Africa’s top order to convert good starts into match-winning performances.

Du Plessis (67) and Hashim Amla (73) added 112 runs for the second wicket. but neither succeeded in converting their half-centuries into three figures.

‘Myself and Hashim [Amla] had a nice partnership and the pleasing thing is that there is room for improvement. We are a team with high standards and we are definitely looking to be a lot more solid in the second match,’ said Du Plesssis.

Du Plessis continued by saying that although the level of performance in the first ODI was below par, it is encouraging that they still had a chance of victory for much of the game.

‘We made quite a lot of mistakes in the first match,’ Du Plessis admitted on Friday.

‘The positive to take from that is that we played at 50 percent and we still got ourselves into a position where we could have won the game.’

The Proteas can also take solace in the fact that their record at the Rose Bowl stands at 100 percent, having beaten both Zimbabwe and England in the past.

Furthermore, the Rose Bowl was the site of Amla’s fantastic knock of 150 from 124 balls in 2012.

The match begins at 11:00 local time on Saturday.