Ahmedabad, Feb 21 (IANS) South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock said handling pressure and winning the small moments would be decisive when his side face India in a crunch Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Both teams are unbeaten after cruising through their respective groups with four wins each and will meet in what is also a rematch of the 2024 edition final, where India won to break a long trophy drought. Aiden Markram-led South Africa toured India late last year, but lost 3-1 in a five-game T20I series, as well as in a warm-up game held earlier this month.

“What’s going to make for quite a good game tomorrow, I think, is that we’ve played against each other quite a bit over the last two months. To be honest, the teams haven’t really changed much. So I think it’s more when you’re out there on the pressure side, who deals with the pressure better and wins the small moments in the game, and not even just playing against India.

“In the IPL, we’re always playing against each other a lot. Everyone knows each other, how everyone plays, and how everyone thinks. So I think it’s just a matter of being out there who falls under the pressure first,” said de Kock in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

South Africa have played three Group D matches in Ahmedabad and played at different times of the day. It means that the Proteas are taking on defending champions India in familiar territory, owing to them knowing the conditions quite well.

“I think it does help quite a bit. We’ve played a day game and a night game, so we kind of understand the conditions. But I don’t think it means too much because the Indian team’s played here and a lot of them have played here their whole careers. I don’t think it plays that much of a difference at the end of the day,” said de Kock.

India’s left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma has bagged three consecutive ducks, but de Kock felt he may come good at some point in the competition.

“He’s the number one T20 batsman in the world at the moment, according to the ranking, so he must keep doing what he’s doing. He’s obviously quite young; he’s bound to fail. So being number one obviously means something, and I’m sure at some point he’s going to play an important knock.”

Asked if South Africa could open the bowling with an off-spinner, like skipper Aiden Markram or Tristan Stubbs, just as other teams had done against them and put a lid on the scoring rate, de Kock said, “I think it all depends on how the wicket’s playing. Obviously, if the wicket’s not turning, it’s obviously easier to play the spin. But in Ahmedabad, I think what we felt on these wickets has been a bit more seamer-friendly.

“The spin has kind of travelled a little bit. So I’m saying that it’s all about conditions at the end of the day – it’s always going to be harder for left-handed batsmen to struggle a bit against a right-arm offie if it’s spinning. So like I said, it’s all just on to the conditions, and what we deal with.”

–IANS

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