NEW DELHI: The formidable South African cricket team, having excelled in the conditions at the ICC World Cup, remains undaunted as they prepare to face India, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, according to Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen.
South Africa's commanding performance continued as they decimated New Zealand by a resounding 190 runs on Wednesday, securing the top position in the World Cup standings with an impressive four-match winning streak.
Their next challenge will be against India, setting up a top-of-the-table clash in Kolkata on Sunday. Despite India's formidable record and reputation, van der Dussen expressed the team's readiness for this significant encounter.
"Obviously, playing India in India is a massive event. They've been playing really well. A lot of experience in their team. They've got all bases covered, brilliant bowling attack and obviously the batting as well," said van der Dussen during a post-match press conference.
"But again, we'll go into that game knowing that if we do the things that we want to do, we'll be in a really strong position. The challenge is to be under pressure, to stay with that, and that's what we'll look to do. But we've played them here before and we've beaten them here before."
South Africa, despite their consistent strong performances in international cricket, has yet to secure a major tournament trophy. However, they have displayed peak form in this ODI World Cup, notably recording three of the six highest scores in the tournament.
1/10:World Cup: South Africa thrash New Zealand to go top of the standings
IANS
2/10:Quinton de Kock's century
Quinton de Kock scored his fourth century of the World Cup, reaching 114 runs off 116 balls.AP
3/10:Rassie van der Dussen's century
Rassie van der Dussen scored his second century of the World Cup, hitting 133 runs off 118 balls.ANI
4/10:South Africa's dominant victory
South Africa thrashed New Zealand by 190 runs, with New Zealand collapsing to 167 all out while chasing a 358-run target.IANS
5/10:South Africa's Semi-Final Hopes
With this victory, South Africa are virtually assured of a spot in the semi-finals of the World Cup.ANI
6/10:New Zealand's struggles
New Zealand suffered their third loss of the tournament, putting their chances of reaching the semi-finals at risk.ANI
7/10:De Kock's retirement plans
Quinton de Kock plans to retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup.IANS
8/10:De Kock, van der Dussen stand
Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen had a 200-run partnership for the second wicket.ANI
9/10:South Africa's bowling performance
South Africa's fast bowlers, led by Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj, ripped through New Zealand's top order.ANI
10/10:New Zealand's injury woes
New Zealand played without their injured captain Kane Williamson, which further weakened their batting lineup.PTIVan der Dussen emphasised their approach, saying, "What we've done really well in this campaign is we're really just focusing on what we want to do and how we want to play it."
"In our match review meetings, we keep looking at the numbers with the coaches and so far in this tournament, by most metrics, we're stacking up pretty well. So, at the end of the day, it's almost irrelevant who's in front of you. We know if we play the way we want to play and execute how we want to and take the correct options, especially under pressure, then the result is a byproduct of that."
South Africa's strength has undoubtedly been their formidable batting unit, as evidenced by their remarkable statistics. They had the fewest dot balls and yet the most boundaries of any team in this World Cup.
Van der Dussen explained, "I think that's a result of what we want to do when we're out in the middle. We talk about assessing the conditions and what's the correct option and always having the correct intent."
"Our approach differs throughout the innings, considering options and intent, but we know that if we can follow through with these principles, we naturally put ourselves in a better position to score and to position the ball where we want to."
(With inputs from PTI)
