Proteas not taking Nepal lightly in dead rubber clash, Rabada insists

Preparing to face Nepal for the first time, fast bowler Kagiso Rabada admits they are wary of their unfancied opponents, insisting there will be no complacency from the SA team in their dead rubber clash at the T20 World Cup in Saint Vincent in the early hours of Saturday morning (1.30am SA time).

While the SA team are top of Group D and have already qualified for the Super 8 stage of the tournament, Nepal are second from bottom and cannot progress to the next round.

However, despite their opponents lying 13 places below them in the T20 world rankings, Rabada said ahead of the match that the South Africans were hungry for another win in their last game of the opening round.

“It’s another international match and we’re not taking them lightly,” Rabada said.

“We’re going to try to play some more of the same cricket, or even better, that we’ve been playing in the tournament.”

Unknown opposition

South Africa have never played Nepal in any format, and Rabada said he didn’t know much about their opponents, but Proteas team management had done their homework ahead of the fixture.

“To be honest, I don’t know a fair amount about how they play, but we have our analysis, and we will do our homework,” he said.

“But 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 that it’s 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.”

Looking ahead

Though they had already booked their place in the next round, and they remained confident of lifting the trophy after winning their first three matches of the tournament, Rabada said the Proteas were trying not to look too far beyond their next game.

“I believe we’re going to win it but you just have to take it game by game. You can’t look too far ahead,” he said.