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Coming from a back to back wins, India are oozing with confidence as they face next face South Africa in their T20 World Cup's Group 2's Super 12 clash on super Sunday (October 30).
It will be a slugfest to watch out for which will see India's batting firepower locking horns with South Africa's lethal pace attack. Howeve, Rohit Sharma & Co. will look to win the match and nearly staple team's spot in semifinals.
Meanwhile, right ahead of the all-important clash, South African pacer Anrich Nortje on Saturday said that he and Kagiso Rabada form one of the best pace attacks in world cricket and backed the bowling unit to test Indian batters in their T20 World Cup clash.
Nortje and Rabada are expected to pose a challenge for the Indian batting line-up on an Optus Stadium pitch offering steep bounce and good carry.
“Yes, we back ourselves. We see ourselves as one of the best pace attacks there is. I think we're definitely going to back ourselves,” Nortje said on eve of the game.
Nortje didn’t forget to mention that as an attack, they tick all the boxes. Nortje is all about raw pace, Rabada can swing and seam deliveries upward of 145 while Marco Jansen generates steep bounce with his 6 feet 8 inch frame. Wayne Parnell has variations of cutter and Lungi Ngidi can hit the deck hard if need be.
“We have a great variety. We cover a lot of aspects. We cover a lot of bases with our attack. We back ourselves against any team to go out and do what we have to do on the day to try and get over the line.
“Then we've got two spinners as well. So we definitely back ourselves in that department, and I'm sure the boys are looking forward to tomorrow.” While Nortje doesn’t mind having two bouncers per over, he is still ready to judiciously use one that is there on offer.
“Yes, with T20 cricket, hopefully somewhere in the future we can have two bounces in an over. That would be unbelievable.
“But on wickets like these, obviously, you have one bouncer per over, so you have to try and just sort of time it properly and, like you say, not to get carried away. Sometimes it can look nice, but it's not effective.
"So try to be as effective as possible, try to keep the emotions intact,” he added.
For a fast bowler it is important to calm the nerves, he said.
“Yeah, just try and be calm in situations where I think the adrenaline is flowing. Generally, we're just going to look to try to keep it in our areas and try and sort of identify what is a good length and a good line on the day."
Head-to-Head Stats
In the shortest format of the game, India and South Africa have squared off 23 times. The Indian squad has a little edge in this situation since they have won 13 of the 23 games.
Perth Weather Forecast
IND vs SA: Perth Weather Forecast: Rain has so far caused a handful of World Cup games to be called off. The venue of the India vs. South Africa game is Optus Stadium in Perth. The skies have been covered by rain for the past few days. The weather will be overcast and gloomy.
Perth Pitch Report
Perth has one of the fastest surfaces in the world, which offers dependable support for the pacers. This is a great pitch to bat as well. The batters will be able to play and time their shots here due to the true bounce on this track. 167 runs are scored here in the first inning on average, and with a quicker outfield, the runs will flow. After winning the toss at this venue, any captain may choose to bowl first. The batters will aim for the slightly smaller, straighter boundary.
Probable Playing XIs
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
