ICC World Cup 2019: The South African management would be pleased looking at the form of Proteas players in the IPL
The South African camp will be confident for their World Cup 2019 campaign starting on 30th of May against the hosts England. Not only are they coming in on the back of a few successful international outings, but their players are also peaking at the right time.
The Proteas players featuring in IPL 2019 have been in excellent form; Kagiso Rabada is the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 23 wickets at an economy rate of 7.83, Imran Tahir is in 2nd position with 16 wickets at a brilliant economy rate of 5.89, and Quinton de Kock is on the Orange Cap list with 378 runs at a strike rate of 137.45.
The South African captain Faf du Plessis has been exceptional in the field and has also scored runs for Chennai Super Kings at an average of 35.60. Something similar can be said for David Miller with Kings XI Punjab. Miller has taken some amazing catches this season and have been involved in game-changing moments in the field, and although he has struggled somewhat with the bat he still averages 29.66.
Performances in the South African domestic T20 competition have also not gone unnoticed. Rassie van der Dussen has been in good form lately with a knock of 85 runs off 47 balls vs the Titans last week. Van der Dussen been playing exceptionally well at the international level too with 353 runs in 8 innings at an average of 88.25. He was put under pressure against Sri Lanka and Pakistan earlier this year but he guided the Proteas to victory on more than one occasion.
The Proteas will be confident of having a successful Cricket World Cup with a mixture of youth and experience in the squad and crucial players getting into form at the right time.
Predicted Proteas XI vs England (opening game of the Cricket World Cup):
Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, JP Duminy, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi.