In their third Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday (October 30), Team India will be up against South Africa. The high-voltage match between the two star-studded sides will take place at the Perth Stadium. The wicket in Perth is considered to be a paradise for the pacers and with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell and Marco Jansen in its ranks, South Africa will back themselves to come up good against India, who currently occupy the number one position in the Group 2 points table with two wins from as many matches.
The match between India and South Africa in Perth will be the night game, which will start at 7:00 PM local time (4:30 PM IST). While the Proteas will look to win and take the number one position in the table, India will aim to complete the hat-trick of wins and ignite their chances of reaching the semifinals.
Ahead of the high-voltage game, tearaway South African pacer Anrich Nortje has fired a warning to the Indian team by saying that his team’s bowling attack will be definitely backing themselves to come good against India.
“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 (against India). We have a great variety. We cover a lot of aspects. We cover a lot of bases with our attack.”
“As a pace attack, we definitely 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 young spinners as well. So, we definitely back ourselves in that department, and I’m sure the boys are looking forward to tomorrow (Sunday). Focused on what we have to do. That’s all,” Nortje said in the pre-match press conference.
Nortje, who is coming into this game on the back of taking four wickets for just 10 runs against Bangladesh in his side’s last game, feels that this year might be the one where the Proteas could clinch the silverware, something which has eluded them ever since the T20 World Cup came into existence.
“We’ve been saying it for the last two seasons now. Last year as well, we lost one game at the World Cup, and we were out of it. That was also a close game. I think it’s a really good team. The guys have been together for such a long time. Everyone knows sort of where they fit in.”
“So it’s just effective that we’ve been playing for such a long time and guys have been gelling really well. We definitely think that the last two seasons have been a great team, and hopefully we can win the Cup this season.”
