South African cricketer David Miller feels that his team should exploit Pakistan’s weak top order when the two teams play at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.

The Proteas were called “dark horses” before the big tournament in Australia, and their fearsome pace attack and good batsmen have shown why.

Before the other matches in Group 2 on Wednesday night, they were on top of the table with two wins out of three, including a win over India. The third game for South Africa was rained out.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is fifth, and if South Africa beats them at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, Pakistan will be out of the World Cup.

Pakistan’s opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan haven’t done much at the World Cup so far and are under a lot of pressure to get back on track quickly.

“I think it is an area to exploit,” said middle-order batsman Miller.

“This game is all about confidence and they haven’t probably performed the way they’ve wanted to.

“But they’re world-class players and we’re expecting them to come out and bring their A-game and be up for the challenge.”

Miller scored an unbeaten fifty in a tense five-wicket win over India that showed South Africa’s ability to win the title and how strong they are.

“I suppose we are finding lots of ways to win,” he said.

“We’ve done it over a period of time now. I’d say probably the last year, we’ve found ourselves in tricky situations and managed to get over the line.

“I think the continuity of the squad over time, guys have managed to sort of find their roles and if one guy isn’t doing well, another guy picks up the slack.”

Photo by EPA/RICHARD WAINWRIGHT