Proteas aim for perfect World Cup start

It is fair to say that confidence will be high in the South African camp ahead of the fixture having beaten England in back to back T20 matches in February. England are also licking their wounds following their six wicket loss to the West Indies in their opening match of the tournament.

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis believes their recent wins over England will play a factor, as they look to pile more pressure on the English.

“Obviously you are hoping a team is not confident when you’re playing them. The only way you get confidence is by winning so you’re hoping that plays a role. But in a World Cup there is the aspect that if you don’t rock up on the day any team can beat you. So many times the smaller nations have proven that,” Du Plessis said.

“For us, it helps a lot knowing we’re going into the game with confidence having beaten them in South Africa. But we do know it’s going to be a completely different game.

“We’re hoping that if we put them under pressure, they would fall back into the mentality that they’re losing games and they’re not confident. Whereas if you give them a sniff and they feel like they’re in the game, those previous performances mean nothing.

“It’s crucial we start well and put them under pressure and hopefully they will make a few mistakes,” the Proteas skipper said.

For England, a second loss could make an early exit from the competition a very likely scenario. They are also facing a quick two-day turnaround after their loss to the West Indies. All those factors have the South African captain confident that victory is all the more achievable.

“It’s not motivation for me personally, I think it’s just a bit more pressure on the team that has lost the first game. If we were in their shoes having lost the first game, we would feel the pressure going into the second because you know if you lose you could possibly be out.

“We had a look at their first game, learned some lessons from it and we will try implementing them. They will be under pressure and that’s why it’s important to put pressure on them from early on.”

The Proteas face England at the Wankhede Stadium at 16h00 on Friday.

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