PROTEAS NOT TAKING NEPAL LIGHTLY, SAYS KG RABADA

MI Cape Town spearhead Kagiso Rabada believes the Proteas batters have “no demons” after the tough start to their ICC T20 World Cup campaign in the United States of America.

The Proteas' top-order struggled to adapt to the conditions in their opening three matches in New York and required the men in the middle Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban’s Super Giants) and David Miller (Paarl Royals) to haul them out of the quagmire on a couple of occasions.

But with the Proteas moving across to the Caribbean for their final Group D clash against Nepal on Saturday, the top-order will be hoping to put their indifferent start to the competition behind them ahead of the Super Eight phase next week.

Rabada, though, is not too concerned about the form of the batters as long as the Proteas keep crossing the line.

“You can't really judge their form on wickets that we've just played on. As much as it's not an excuse, but common sense should prevail,” Rabada said.

“You can't really blame the batters. But in saying that, no one's got any demons. Everyone's moving forward. We play the conditions as we see them. And on our day, we know the sky's a limit in terms of batting.

“I think that the guys are really keen for the challenge and with us it's just about winning. Whether we score 96 and win or whether we score 296 and win. At the end of the day, it's about the W. And that's what we've done so far.”

After leaving the Indian Premier League, where he played 11 matches for the Punjab Kings and took 11 wickets at an economy of 8.85 early due to an infection in the soft tissue of a lower limb, Rabada has certainly looked like his old menacing self at the T20 World Cup again.

Although Pretoria Capitals’ Anrich Nortje (8 wickets) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Ottniel Baartman (5 wickets) have led the wicket-takers table for the Proteas, Rabada has rediscovered his all-important rhythm.

Unlike in recent seasons when he seemed to be over-straining, Rabada is floating into the crease again, which is when he is at his best.

It certainly was the case against Bangladesh in the last match at the Nassau Park ground when he sent down the 18th over, picking up two crucial wickets and conceding just one run, which ultimately paved the way for the slender four-run victory over the Dutch.

Rabada will be hoping to continue this form against Nepal, although considering the shocks that have already occurred at this T20 World Cup, he is wary of taking anything for granted against the Associate Nation.

“It’s another international match, another fixture and we're not taking them lightly and we're going to try and play some more of the same cricket or even better that we've been playing in the tournament,” Rabada said.

“We have our analysis, and we will do our homework. I know that they've been really playing more and more over the past number of years. And it's good to see in the game of cricket growing. And like I said earlier, it's not a game that we're going to take lightly. Not at all. We can't take it lightly.”

Nepal have been boosted with the return of former captain Sandeep Lamichhane after the experienced spinner missed the US leg of the tournament.

Lamichhane is the most experienced of the Nepalese players and will certainly pose a threat with his spinning varieties on a Kingston surface that is expected to turn.

Rabada will, though, be able to provide the batters with some information on Lamichhane after playing with him at his former IPL team, Delhi Capitals.

“He's a mystery spinner, so any mystery spinner is going to be tough to play,” he said.

“But I know the guys are really looking forward to facing that challenge.”

SQUADS FOR KINGSTON 

South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (captain - Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Ottniel Baartman (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Gerald Coetzee (Joburg Super Kings), Quinton de Kock (Durban's Super Giants), Bjorn Fortuin (Paarl Royals), Reeza Hendricks (Joburg Super Kings), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban's Super Giants), Keshav Maharaj (Durban's Super Giants), David Miller (Paarl Royals), Anrich Nortje (Pretoria Capitals), Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town), Tabraiz Shamsi (Paarl Royals), Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape). Travelling reserves: Nandre Burger (Joburg Super Kings), Lungi Ngidi (Paarl Royals).

Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (captain), Aasif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Bhurtel, Sundeep Jora, Karan KC, Kushal Malla, Pratis GC, Sompal Kami, Anil Sah, Abinash Bohara, Gulsan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Kamal Airee, Sagar Dhakal, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Start: 1:30am (Saturday, SA Time)

All images courtesy: ICC/Getty