Rabada, Coetzee can bring fear factor to Proteas attack in high-scoring World Cup, says Simons

Proteas bowling coach Eric Simons hopes South Africa's attack, led by Kagiso Rabada, can perform on the subcontinent in what he believes will be a high-scoring World Cup tournament.

The Proteas open their World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

The first match of this year's event saw Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra's unbeaten centuries guide New Zealand to a clinical nine-wicket victory and chase a modest 283 against defending champions England.

They did it with style, however, winning with 82 balls to spare. 

If early signs are anything to go by, the Proteas bowling attack will have their work cut out for them.

"I think we're going to see a high-scoring tournament, we're going to see good wickets and I think you just need to have every cog in your machine working well," Simons told reporters on Thursday.

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The Proteas suffered a massive blow when fiery fast bowler Anrich Nortje and seamer Sisanda Magala were ruled out of the tournament last week. 

Simons told News24 that Nortje's injury would be felt as the Proteas had lost some of their "intimidation factor".

With Nortje injured, Rabada spearheads the Proteas attack which is also complemented by the young Gerald Coetzee, who can deliver snorters in the region of 140km/h on a regular basis, although Simons has cautioned that there will be the odd tough spell in the tournament.

In the experienced Rabada the Proteas have a quick who knows his way around Indian conditions, grabbing the purple cap in the Indian Premier League and boasting 35 wickets (13 in seven ODIs) in 27 appearances in the cricket-obsessed country.

"On a day, [Rabada's] going to maybe go for