Time to deliver, SA coach Kirsten says ahead of Indian encounter

COLOMBO (Reuters): South Africa have a habit of failing to deliver in crunch matches at major tournaments but coach Gary Kirsten says they must produce the goods in Tuesday’s World Twenty20 clash with India.

The South Africans have lost their previous two Super Eight games and can only qualify for the semi-finals by beating India by a resounding margin while Group Two rivals Australia defeat Pakistan.

“We know what we need to do, we’ve got to execute. We also know exactly how you must play in these conditions,” Kirsten told reporters on Monday.

“The guys don’t do it all the time ... in fact they have seldom done it here.”

South Africa won their round-robin matches in Sri Lanka but then lost to Pakistan and Australia in the Super Eights.

India have won once and lost once in Group Two and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows they face a tough match against South Africa.

“They are a very good side,” said Dhoni. “They have a very complete bowling lineup with fast bowlers, two spinners and they also have batsmen who can score runs at a good pace.

“But in this format we have to click as a team, with somebody scoring 40 or 50 with the bat and the rest producing cameos of 10, 15, 20.”