Du Plessis: Proteas must fire on all cyclinders

Faf du Plessis knows South Africa must “step it up a gear” as they prepare for a crunch World Twenty20 clash against West Indies on Friday.

The Springboks started their World T20 campaign by losing to England in a run-fest last week, but responded with a defeat of Afghanistan.

South Africa could replace the Windies, who have won two out of two in India, at the top of Group 1 with a victory in Nagpur.

And T20 captain Du Plessis said there is plenty more to come from his side ahead of the match against the in-form Windies, with a final Group 1 game against Sri Lanka to come next Monday.

“You can’t come here thinking any match is going to be easy,” he said. “Afghanistan was a difficult game for us, I still think that they can beat someone in this tournament.

“We would have liked to start that first match with a win after posting 230 but it didn’t work out that way. We know that we have to play our best cricket leading up to the semi-finals.

“It’s a nice boat to be in. You have to peak at the right time, that is when you win tournaments.

“As a team we have been going at 60 per cent for a while and I’m hoping we’ll step it up a gear as we head into the crunch matches.”