Mumbai, Oct 20 (PTI) South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Friday admitted the in-form batter Quinton de Kock’s experience and knowledge of the Wankhede Stadium will be a guiding force for them in their World Cup clash here against England.

Coming off a shock defeat to the Netherlands, South Africa will be keen to get back to winning ways when they face 2019 winners England in the World Cup on Saturday.

De Kock, set to retire from ODIs after the World Cup, has had the Wankhede Stadium as his home ground in the IPL playing for Mumbai Indians. Bavuma said de Kock’s experience will come in handy for his side which also has some players including himself playing here for the first time.

“His experience is immense. In our batting chat today (Friday), we basically listened to him. He gave the batting chat as to what the conditions are like, what to expect,” Bavuma told the media before South Africa’s training session.

Bavuma, who opens the innings for the Proteas, has had a quiet start to the World Cup with scores of 8, 35 and 16, unlike his explosive batting partner de Kock, who struck centuries in the first two games. Bavuma said de Kock’s experience will be vital for his side.

“I mean, for at least a player like myself, who has never played here, you feed off that type of information, that type of intel.

“Obviously with him having the good start (to the World Cup), like you said, he will be looking to build on that. And I am sure if it is his day, if the conditions allow, I am sure he will take it with both hands,” Bavuma added.

Bavuma said South Africa will be ready with their plans if England decide to bring in Ben Stokes in their playing eleven.

England were non-committal about the probability of Stokes playing his first game on Saturday as the all-rounder batted in the nets but did not bowl beyond some off-spin during their training.

“A fully fit Ben Stokes obviously does strengthen the England team. He is an X-factor player. He is the guy that can change the course of the game. He is someone that we have covered in our preparation,” he said.

Bavuma said South Africa’s bowlers have to do better in the death overs after Netherlands staged a fightback.

“We were put under pressure in the death period. How we’ve bowled within the death, has not been at our best. That has kind of been masked by how well we have bowled in the power play as well as the middle overs,” he said.

Bavuma added, “We know we are going to have to be at the top of our game to get him unstuck. We have a lot of respect for him, Ben Stokes. We know what he can do, but we will prepare for him as well as we can.” Bavuma also conceded that some members in the South African camp were surprised by the Netherlands’ tactics of bowling a lot of spin front-up.

“It definitely surprised some of us, that tactic of theirs with the spin. Understanding that the wicket supposedly was not favourable towards spin. With that being said, we had to adapt. Some of us were able to, some of us were not able to adapt,” Bavuma said.

“We know England have also employed that, sometimes bowling the off-spinner at the top, so that is something that we are expecting, whether they go that route. But yeah, it did take some of us by surprise in terms of Netherlands’ tactic to keep going longer with the spin and power play,” Bavuma said.

Playing at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time, Bavuma said he grew up idolising Sachin Tendulkar and playing at the legend’s home ground is a “tick off his list” as a cricketer.

“For me, growing up, idolising a guy like Sachin Tendulkar, Wankhede was a stadium you always heard about. So, to have that opportunity to be playing, that is another tick off my list as a cricketer,” Bavuma said.

“The guys that have played here, JP Duminy, Quinton, they have spoken about how it can be a batter’s paradise. You get value for your shots and the ball seems to travel further,” he added.

Source: PTI News