CARDIFF   -    South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen thinks his side have “a really strong chance” of taking home the title at this summer’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales.

It will be the 30-year-old’s maiden Cricket World Cup campaign, and he spoke of the excitement surrounding his and his teammates’ arrival in Cardiff for the pre-tournament fixtures, ahead of the tournament opener on 30 May. “I’m really excited,” he told the ICC. “It’s been a long build-up and a long month of preparation, and we arrived in Cardiff to beautiful weather so we couldn’t ask for much more. I’ve heard the weather here is usually worse than this!” Van der Dussen has been a key performer for his country since making his international debut in October 2018. Farom nine ODIs, he has four half-centuries at an average of 88.25, and his excellent performances since joining the fold might just have seen him cement his place in South Africa’s top order come tournament time.

He was quick to commend his more celebrated team-mates however, citing the plethora of seasoned campaigners in the Proteas’ ranks as cause not to rule them out of going all the way. “In terms of our chances as a team, we have match-winners right up and down the line-up,” he said. We’ve got world class players in Faf (du Plessis), Dale (Steyn), JP (Duminy), Imran (Tahir). There are so many.

“We’re not favourites in this tournament, which is probably the first time in a while that we don’t enter as out-and-out favourites, but we are going to look to use that to our advantage and I think we have a really strong chance.”