Morgan relishing pressure; Du Plessis the lack of it

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis tried to ease the pressure on his team on the eve of the World Cup by insisting they did not have to play like “Superman” to enjoy success at the tournament.

The Proteas will launch the World Cup against hosts and favourites England at the Oval on Thursday as they begin their latest bid to put decades of disappointment at the event behind them.

South Africa have won only one of seven World Cup knockout matches, against Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals in 2015, since making their tournament debut in 1992.

“Whether we come into this tournament as favourites or as underdogs, you still have to go out on the park and play cricket and perform to win a World Cup,” Du Plessis told reporters at the Oval on Wednesday.

While South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was also enthusiastically pointing to something during their respective training sessions at The Oval in London yesterday. Photo: Reuters

“Learning from myself that I can speak of in the past, you perhaps feel like you have to do more. You know, you have to be a Superman on the day. You’re trying to win a World Cup. For me, that’s not what we need to do.

“We are a good cricket team. Our results has proven that. We need to stay present in the fact that what we have got on our team is good enough to beat any team on the day and trust that, not go away thinking ‘today I need to be the man that scores 180 off 60 balls’ because that doesn’t give us results.”

South Africa will be without Steyn for Thursday’s match after the veteran quick was ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained playing in the Indian Premier League.

“It’s a big loss to our team,” said Du Plessis. “We did expect it when we picked the squad, Dale was about 60 percent when the squad was picked so it was anticipated. A fit Dale Steyn makes our bowling attack a very strong one.”

Du Plessis’ opposite number, England captain Eoin Morgan, is someone who would be relishing the prospect of delivering the World Cup to England for the first time. He feels winning a home World Cup could do wonders for cricket in the sport’s birthplace.

England are top of the one-day international rankings and favourites to lift a trophy they have never yet won in its 44-year-history -- a far cry from their woeful first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“It would mean a huge amount. The World Cup alone raises the profile of the game and is a platform for every young kid in this country to have a hero or have the inspiration to pick up a ball or a bat,” Morgan told reporters at the Oval on Wednesday.

“To go on and win it, I couldn’t imagine what that would do,” the former Ireland batsman added.

England may have suffered several injury scares in recent weeks, including his own dislocated finger, but Morgan said all of his 15-man squad were available to face the Proteas at the Oval.

“I’m good and the team are very well. We’ve no injury concerns and we have a full bill of health for tomorrow,” he said.