South Africa’s objective at the T20 World Cup will be to reach the semi-finals, from where anything can happen, says coach Russell Domingo.

The Proteas have reached the semi-finals of their last two ICC events but according to Domingo they lost both times to a better team on the day.

‘For me the most important thing is getting to the semi-finals,’ he said. ‘Once you get into the semi-finals any one of those four sides can win on the day. The key is to play well so you can have confidence going into that semi-final. Have a style of play, have key players in form.’

South Africa play five T20s at home, two against England and three against Australia, in the lead-up to the T20 tournament, which takes place in India.

Domingo admitted that the conditions in South Africa will differ greatly from the pitches in India but since South Africa’s first group match is against England, the current series does hold significance.

‘That puts a lot of importance on these two games to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. If we can get any mental advantage over them going into the tournament, that would be very important for us.’

A big talking point heading into the T20 World Cup will be where AB de Villiers will bat, but Domingo said it will be in the top order.

‘AB will bat near the top of the order at the World Cup,’ Domingo said. ‘We have a wealth of experience now in our middle order whereas maybe in the past the experience levels of those middle order players wasn’t where it is now and that’s maybe why we felt we needed to keep AB in that particular position.

‘Now that we’ve got that, guys like JP have played so many IPLs, David Miller has played so many IPLs, it helps us with the experience in that middle order which allows AB to play a little bit further up the order.’