World T20: Chilled South Africa to cut out fancy, funky cricket
By Nick Said
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa coach Russell Domingo has vowed his side won't play "fancy" cricket in their search for an elusive ICC trophy as they depart for the World Twenty20 in India on Thursday in confident mood.
South Africa head to the tournament ranked as the third best team in the 20-over format and on the back of recent series wins in Bangladesh and, crucially, India.
Domingo believes they will be able to quickly put behind them the 2-1 home loss to Australia, confirmed on Wednesday with a six-wicket loss in Cape Town, which he didn't think diminished from an excellent 14 months for his side in the shortest format.
"We are all pretty chilled. I don't think there is a weight of expectation around our team or any of the teams because of the nature of the competition," he told reporters.
"You can't get too fancy, you can't get too funky. There is no magic wand to wave. The sides that do the basics really well in high-pressure games, they usually come out on top."
South Africa have won nine of their last 12 completed Twenty20 matches and bar some debate over who should bat in the middle order, have a settled line-up, most of who are in form.
"We've got a chance," Domingo continued. "We are one of the most consistent sides in this format and can go there very confident. We have prepared very well, we have some of the best players in the world and we've got a seriously good side. We'll be there and thereabouts."
South Africa’s good form has been built around their ability to chase down scores and Domingo admits there is a concern over how they defend totals in tight situations.
"We've chased really well, which is a big bonus, but we need to defend a score. We need to find ways of scraping," he said.
South Africa will open their World Twenty20 campaign against England in Mumbai on March 18. They will also face group matches against Sri Lanka, West Indies and a qualifier from the first round pool that contains Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Scotland and Hong Kong.
(Editing by Patrick Johnston)