What will be, will be is Rassie and Proteas' World Cup mantra despite statement English win

In Bloemfontein

Rassie van der Dussen, ethereally calm as ever, believes the Proteas still don't need to overthink a tense run-in of fixtures that will determine whether they automatically qualify for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year.

South Africa took a significant step towards that goal with a thrilling 27-run victory in the first of three ODIs against England on Friday night, a match where they held their nerve well after their match prospects looked dead in the water initially.

Given that they've underplayed the pressure associated with booking a last-gasp trip to the showpiece tournament, there's probably no reason for them to adopt a different mindset.

"Whenever you beat England, it gives you great confidence. They're the world champions, and the way they've been playing over the past few years, it's a feather in your cap to beat them," said Van der Dussen, who emphatically returned to form with a typically gritty 111.

"We're not really thinking about qualification. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it. If we need to go qualify, we'll do it. If we end up winning enough games for automatic qualification, then that's great.

"We're taking it game by game. The resolve we shown, especially with all the excitement of the SA20, the guys came out and re-focused. It was unbelievable."

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The Proteas' batting lynchpin was, understandably, more encouraged by the clarity of the side's thinking on what they wanted to achieve in the game ... and, of course, their adaptability when things didn't go according to plan.

"It definitely helped that Temba [Bavuma] won the toss and he was very clear on what he wanted to do. He wanted us to bat