Beleaguered South Africa can ill afford another defeat when India get their bid for Cricket World Cup glory under way at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.

The Proteas were beaten by Bangladesh on Sunday after starting their campaign with a heavy loss to England.

Dale Steyn (shoulder) was then ruled out of the rest of the tournament on Tuesday, while fellow paceman Lungi Ngidi (hamstring) will play no part in Southampton.

Beuran Hendricks has been called up to replace Steyn, but the left-arm quick will not face India. Hashim Amla could return, having been left out against Bangladesh as a precaution after being struck on the helmet by England's Jofra Archer.

Those setbacks came before India had taken to the field, with Virat Kohli's side the last to begin their quest to be crowned champions.

India have won six of their last seven ODIs against South Africa, although they lost their previous three ODIs against Australia back in March.

Faf du Plessis said "strong words" would be used after a chastening loss to the Tigers and he will be hoping that inspires his team to turn the tide.

 

TOURNAMENT SO FAR

South Africa went down by 104 runs in the opening match of the competition at The Oval, hosts England bowling them out for 207 in reply to 311-8.

They were also second best against an impressive Bangladesh, falling short on 309-8 in reply to 330-6 at the same London venue.

India suffered a six-wicket loss to New Zealand in their first World Cup warm-up match, but hammered Bangladesh by 95 runs in Cardiff last Tuesday.

 

WHAT THEY SAID

Du Plessis: "For myself, it's really important to stay strong. The team will feed off my energy and they will look up to the leadership group in the team. But I'm at the top of that so it is important that I stay positive, I stay strong, make sure I keep motivating the guys."

Kohli: "Whether a team has played before or not, it really wouldn't matter on the day. It depends on how the side turns out, what kind of mental set-up they have and we have to be mentally and skilfully stronger than the opposition whoever we play to win on the day, so I think our focus will be that."

 

OPTA FACTS 

- India have won 11 of their 14 ODIs in England against teams other than England since the last World Cup was hosted there in 1999.

- South Africa have lost back-to-back games in the same World Cup for just the second time in their history. They have never lost three in succession within the same tournament.

- The Proteas have won two of their previous three ODI matches at the Rose Bowl, while India have lost two of their three.