Du Plessis urges Proteas to forget about the past

Faf du Plessis has urged South Africa to forget about their World Cup woes and focus on securing their first victory of the tournament against minnows Afghanistan.Du Plessis’ side face Afghanistan in a must-win match in Cardiff today after a wretched start to the World Cup.Defeats against England, Bangladesh and India and a wash-out with the West Indies have left Proteas captain Du Plessis admitting South Africa must win their five remaining games to have any prospect of making the semi-finals.And the batsman believes the only way for South Africa to achieve that unlikely target is to put their struggles behind them and focus only on the present.“Week one was a bad start to the tournament but that’s done now,” Du Plessis told reporters yesterday.“We’ve got to put all our energy and focus into the now and what’s coming up next.“I truly believe that if we carry those ghosts of the last week with us it’s going to be tough to get out of the hole.“But the conversations in the last couple of days, especially with all the rain around, has given me more time to make sure that the guys are on the right path.”South Africa have the perfect opportunity to kick-start their campaign as Afghanistan have lost their first three games and are the only side below them in the table.“We’ve got to win the five games and that clarity is what we’re trying to achieve,” Du Plessis said.“There was a bit of space for us to make a mistake here or there before, but now everyone has written the team off our backs are against the wall.“Hopefully that allows the guys to play the way that we can, and I truly believe that if we do that we’ll be a very dangerous team.”Paceman Ngidi still a doubtSouth Africa are unsure whether to take a gamble on injured fast bowler Lungi Ngidi today.The 23-year-old Ngidi limped off the field with a hamstring injury as South Africa lost to Bangladesh on June 2 and missed the subsequent defeat to India and the rained-out clash with the West Indies as doctors ruled him out for 10 days.“He’s got to do some work today and possibly tomorrow as well to make sure that he’s 100 percent,” Du Plessis said.“It’s a tricky one, because we’re in a position now where we need to win five games out of five. So you want to have your best guys available for selection.”But Du Plessis said he and coach Ottis Gibson had still to decide as South Africa sit with one point from the first four games.“Probably the right call to make would be to say that if he’s not ready, you just give him a little bit more time to see if he can play the next four games, which is going to be big.”After Afghanistan, South Africa play New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia before the group stage ends on July 6.Ngidi’s injury came on top of the withdrawal from the tournament of fellow speedster Dale Steyn, in two major blows to South Africa’s hopes.