Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi believes their bowling unit will give them an edge at the World Cup.
South Africa play in their first of two warm-up matches this weekend against Sri Lanka on Friday at 11.20am, before facing the West Indies on Sunday.
Heading into the tournament, there were a lot of concerns over the fitness of pace trio Ngidi, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada.
Ngidi battled a side strain and missed the Indian Premier League because of it, while Steyn (shoulder) and Rabada (back strain) both returned early from the tournament after suffering injuries in India.
But the 23-year-old is ready to go and says the injury concerns have been replaced by excitement ahead of the tournament.
NO WORRIES: Pace ace Kagiso Rabada. Deryck Foster/Backpagepix.
Ngidi says: “We are very confident, there is a lot of focus on our bowling.
“The guys have performed well and that’s evident [in the results of the past few months].
“But it’s always still a team effort.
“As a unit, I think we play our best cricket when the guys have bowled well, but we still need runs on the board.
“Putting teams under pressure in terms of bowling good lines and lengths is what we thrive on.”
Ngidi knows that with doing well, there is an expectation.
And while he says it will be a dream come true to win the tournament, he adds that the Proteas won’t put too much pressure on themselves.
STRONG AS EVER: Cup veteran Dale Steyn. Photo: Frikkie Kapp/Backpagepix.
He explains: “It will be a dream come true.
“Since we started this journey and since I started playing [it has been a dream of mine].
“I would love to win it, but I don’t like to set myself too many goals.
“When you don’t reach it, you get very disappointed.
“So I set goals for specific games.”
His first goal will be to get off to a fast start against the Lankans and the Windies this weekend, before tackling hosts England in the tournament opener on Thursday.