Anrich Nortje says the Proteas want to go for “the win and the kill” when they face England in the second ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday.
The visitors won the first ODI of the three-match series by 62 runs in Durham on Tuesday and now have the chance to claim only a second bilateral series triumph in England, having done so in 1998.
“For us, it’s about doing what we do well,” said Nortje on Thursday. “Obviously, if it’s a green wicket then things might change. We’ll try and adapt as quickly as possible, but going all guns blazing might be tough. We will just try to adapt and to be smart.”
Nortje, who is playing in England for the first time in his career, said while the Proteas had yet to assess conditions at the venue, he hoped they would be more bowler friendly.
“From what I understand and what’s being said, it will play a little bit better than the previous venue. Hopefully we can get a little bit more bounce. It was quite tough trying to bowl bouncers [in the last game]. So, hopefully there’ll be a little bit more in it, which will help to make it a good wicket for batters and bowlers.”
Nortje said the Proteas had learned from their last series, when they relinquished a 2-0 T20I series in India and had to settle for 2-2 after the fifth match was rained out.
“We said the third game was going to be like a final for us. We didn’t get through it and the next one was going to be like another final and we didn’t pull through. So, there’s definitely some learnings from that.
“We’ve only won one game now [against England] and we want to try and pull through. We want to go for the win and for the kill. We don’t want to drag it out even longer.”
