The Proteas will open their 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign on Saturday when they face Sri Lanka in Delhi, and their preparation will be crucial.

The World Cup got underway yesterday with the 2019 runners-up New Zealand thrashing the defending champions, England, by nine wickets in Ahmedabad.

The Proteas will go into their game against the 1996 champions Sri Lanka with a lot of confidence and momentum following the ODI series win against Australia.

The Proteas did lose their warm-up game to New Zealand by 7-runs across to the DLS Method, but for the process was more important than the result. Had the rain not come, South Africa could very well have won the game in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Proteas bowling coach, Eric Simons, who won the World Cup with India in 2011, said that preparation will be key as this will take a lot of the stress out the equation.

“A lot of it is things the guys know and understand. It's about being involved in a World Cup and how you stay calm in the moment and focus on the process.”

“One of my key mantras as a coach is that if we've got a clear plan then all we have to worry about is execution.

“If your plan is not clear you have stress about what to do plus the execution. So, the better prepared we are the better we are.

“With India back then we brought in the South African explorer, Mike Horn, and his message to the team was, ‘If I don't prepare, I die, so what stress are you guys talking about?’ so, preparation is going to be crucial.”

Saturday’s match between South Africa and Sri Lanka will get underway at 10:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport