South African captain Graeme Smith is ready for the challenges ahead in the World Twenty20 after a crushing seven-wicket win over hosts England.
The Proteas unleashed their firepower to bowl out England for a paltry 111 before coasting home in the 19th over in their first Super Eights match at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Smith said he can't wait to face the West Indies at the Oval in London on Saturday before the final second round game against defending champions India at Trent Bridge next Tuesday.
"We are pretty excited about the prospect of playing the West Indies and the next challenge will be India," he said.
"We played with the same intensity that we have been doing in the past and our plan was to squeeze England.
"Twenty20 is a very unpredictable game, but we are well prepared. We are ready for it."
Smith said his team had a simple plan to overcome the fast and furious nature of the shortest version of the game.
"We try to keep the essentials correct and try our best all the time," he said. "It is important to enjoy our cricket, enjoy our success."
Smith praised young left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell, who picked up three wickets to wreck England's batting before Jacques Kallis hit a half-century to guide the Proteas home.
"We performed well with the ball and everyone in the field played their role well with intensity," he said.
"Parnell has been superb. He's just come in, he's very young and he's handled everything really well. He bowled with pace and control. The crowd was against us but he handled the situation very well."
Kallis, who also chipped in with two wickets, said he has been concentrating on improving his bowling.
"I've worked on it for the last two or three years. I discovered lots of variations in the IPL (Indian Premier League)," said the veteran all-rounder who played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
"We knew if someone stayed at the wicket and we got a run a ball, we'd be okay. I think this was a 140-wicket so our bowlers did really well to restrict them."
Owais Shah was the lone Englishman to withstand the Proteas' onslaught with 38 off 33 balls after four of the top seven batsmen managed only four runs between them.
All the six bowlers used by Smith were among the wickets, with Kallis and Roelof van der Merwe supporting Parnell with two scalps each.
Albie Morkel bowled the first maiden over of the tournament that also included the wicket of Kevin Pietersen, but was not called upon to bowl a second over as the others took care of the England batsmen.
South Africa have been in awesome form in the tournament so far, crushing minnows Scotland by 130 runs before defending their modest 128-7 against New Zealand by one run.

South African captain Graeme Smith is ready for the challenges ahead in the World Twenty20 after a crushing seven-wicket win over hosts England

South Africa well prepared for Twenty20, says Smith

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South Africa well prepared for Twenty20, says Smith

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