CWC 2019: Proteas confident before must win clash against New Zealand, says de Kock

South Africa who lost their first three matches and had their match against the Windies washed out, finally got a sence of victory against Afghanistan on Saturday, which will be looked upon as a boost for the team going into the must win clash against the Kiwis.

“Tomorrow is a quarter-final, I guess you could say it. But if we do win it, it’s another big game again... We have to win all the games, not just focus on tomorrow,” De Kock told reporters in Birmingham.

“But in saying that, we know how good New Zealand are playing at the moment. They are a big team in World Cups. They always seem to step up, so it’s going to be a tough one anyway,” de Kock added.

After three wins in four games, New Zealand are in third position behind Australia in the points table as they look set to qualify for the semi finals.

Although it was a low scoring match against Afghanistan, de Kock who scored fifty said “the team were in a good place dispite defeats to England, Bangladesh and India.”

“During the course of the tournament, obviously after losing all the time, there’s always a bit of a slump in being mentally strong. It’s a long, tough tournament and getting a win has given us high hopes,” de Kock added.

“We are pretty confident at the moment. It’s just about taking it out there and giving a good show.”

Apart from being mentally stronger going into the game against New Zealand, the team would not change there approach, said de Kock

“We’re a successful ODI team anyway over the years. So we don’t need to change anything. It just becomes a mental game at the World Cup, trying to deal with the pressures,” he added.

“The situation we’re in right now, our energy needs to be better than ever. So we’re ready to go out there and give it our best shot tomorrow and for the rest of the other games.”