Matthew Breetzke confident ahead of India–South Africa ODI decider in Visakhapatnam

South Africa batter Matthew Breetzke said his team has a good balance and confidence ahead of the ODI decider against India in Visakhapatnam. He praised Jansen and Bosch’s late-order hitting and noted the dew factor could influence the match

Visakhapatnam: South Africa’s in-form batter Matthew Breetzke said his team has a good balance and there is a lot of confidence in the batting group at the moment, with players complementing each other well.

Speaking to the media ahead of the third and final India–South Africa one-dayer at the ACA-VDCA International Stadium here on Friday, Breetzke said they have power hitters like Dewald Brevis and Marco Jansen who can change the game.

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“We’re going to have to play good cricket. We’re coming up against a really good side. I didn’t know much about this ground, but that’s pretty irrelevant. I think we’ve just got to play our best cricket,” Breetzke said.

On the adjustments he had to make to succeed in India, the batter said he was gaining more experience batting at No.4 and had started to feel more comfortable in the role. “The more I play at number four and in this role, hopefully the better I’ll get,” he said. “But we will have to do it (chasing down a target if set) again tomorrow,” he added.

“Yes, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch played really special innings down the order in the last two games. You can take a little bit more time because you know they’ve got that explosive power at the back end. For us, it’s just about setting that platform for them to come in at the end and do their thing,” Breetzke said.

“We came off a series in Pakistan where the wickets were not batter-friendly. So coming here, with wickets being really nice to bat on, it’s good. I think it gives the opportunity for the bowlers to really show their skills,” he added.

“With the bat, we’re looking to run hard. Certain match-ups that the batters feel comfortable with, they will try to take for 10 to 15 runs an over if they feel confident against a certain bowler. But I think just building partnerships is key. Once we get to that 50-run stand, we can kick on,” Breetzke said.

On the dew factor, Breetzke said it played a big part to their advantage. “Batting second has been really nice. So if we have to bat first, I’m sure we’ll chat about it,” he said.