Cricket World Cup - "If The Opportunity Is There For Us To Score 350...": Temba Bavuma's Warning For Pakistan Bowlers

South Africa will be tempted to field first against Pakistan in their World Cup clash here on Friday, conceded captain Temba Bavuma after the Proteas piled up two of the highest totals in the competition while batting first in their recent outings. South Africa scored 399/7 against England and 382/5 against Bangladesh to record big wins by more than 100 runs in their two-game stint in Mumbai, making the most of the batting-friendly surface. With their only loss in five games coming while batting second, South Africa would be tempted to chase if they win toss in Chennai knowing how conducive batting conditions were here during Afghanistan's eight-wicket win over Pakistan.

"I watched the Afghanistan game with Pakistan and it seemed to get a lot better batting under light. So, I guess there's that temptation from a batting point of view at least," Bavuma told the media in Chennai on Thursday.

"There's obviously us needing to consider the fact that we've had a lot of success of late batting first. So fortunately for me, I don't have to make that decision right now. But, I think we know somewhere along the line in the tournament we'll have to bat second," he added.

"The conversations that we've had as batters is to find ways as to how we can still follow that same process that we follow when we're batting first," Bavuma added.

The sluggish pitch here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium is yet to witness a total in excess of 300. But for South Africa, their approach in reading the conditions and forming their plans will not change.

"What we've done well is there's that process within our batting of assessing the conditions, looking at what we need from a skill and options point of view to be successful, and that's what we've done