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South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj denied Wednesday that his side will have an advantage in their T20 World Cup showdown against the West Indies in Ahmedabad after playing four of their five matches there. Both sides come into today’s crucial Super Eights clash off the back of five straight wins in the tournament and the winners will put themselves in pole position for a semi-final berth. South Africa have played all but one match in Ahmedabad, including a thumping 76-run win over India in their first Super Eights match that silenced an 80,000-strong crowd. The West Indies have been playing exclusively in Mumbai and Kolkata, where conditions are very different to the cavernous Narendra Modi stadium. “It’s nice to not travel,” said left-arm spinner Maharaj, who took 3-24 as co-hosts India were routed for 111 on Sunday. “But from a pitch point of view, I think every game has been very different. “The four matches that we’ve played here, conditions have played very differently throughout the game. “So I don’t see it too much of an advantage. “It’s just making sure that we adapt quicker rather than later compared to the opposition.” West Indies batting coach Floyd Reifer said if his players stuck to their game plan they could negate any edge South Africa might hold. “They have an advantage of playing most of their games at the same venue,” Reifer told reporters. “But like I said, once we plan properly and execute our plans, then we will play a good game of cricket. “So for us, we’re not worried too much about the venues and who played there, who didn’t play there. “For us, no, it’s just coming now and understanding what’s needed to be done and execute.” FLAWLESS RECORDUnbeaten West Indies are being underestimated despite their flawless record so far in the Twenty20 World Cup, batting coach Reifer said. “There’s no point to prove ‌for us and we ‌came here like any other ‌team to win the competition,” Reifer told reporters on Wednesday. “A lot of people have us flying under the radar but we plan every game to go in there with a positive mentality to win cricket games.” West Indies are chasing World Cup glory for the first time in a decade, having last triumphed in 2016, and Reifer credits their success ​to squad depth rather than star power. “We have quality batters and we’re not like the other teams - depending on one or two batters. ‌ “Everybody has stepped up every game and ​put in performances and we’ve been consistent in doing ​that,” he said. South African spinner Maharaj believes his side, finalists in the last edition, have finally developed the character to overcome the shortcomings that have historically derailed their World Cup campaigns. “In previous World Cups, we never crossed over those small moments... If the character is strong in winning those small moments, it propels us to go further on in this tournament,” Maharaj said. “Despite the ‌energy buzzing through the camp ‌after Sunday’s 76-run victory over India, Maharaj warned against complacency against a West Indies side fresh off a mammoth 107-run win over Zimbabwe. “We’re not getting carried away at that. We still know that there’s a lot of cricket to be played in this tournament,” the 36-year-old said. South Africa will be playing their fifth match of the tournament in Ahmedabad but Maharaj ​said that would not give them any advantage and stressed the need for clear execution and adaptation. “West Indies have a way of turning up in these events and we know the danger they possess from an explosive point of view,” he told reporters. Regardless of today’s outcome, the group featuring defending champions India, West Indies, Zimbabwe and South Africa will remain wide open, with ‌all four ​teams having an equal chance of reaching the semi-finals. 

Keshav Maharaj took 4-22 as South Africa thrashed a woeful England side by seven wickets after dismissing the hosts for just 131 runs in the first one-day international at Headingley Tuesday.South Africa sent England into bat and the home side made a bright start as they reached 82-2 in the 14th over, before losing their last eight wickets for just 49 runs following an innings peppered with poor shot selections.Only Jamie Smith put up any sort of resistance with a fine 54 from 48 balls, but South African opener Aiden Markram smashed 86 in 55 balls to show the pitch was a good one as he shared a first wicket partnership of 121 in 18.1 overs with Ryan Rickelton (31 not out from 59 balls).The second match in the three-game series will be played at Lord’s Thursday. The teams will also contest three Twenty Internationals starting on September 10. “It was not a great start to the series, just one of those bad days and we will move on as soon as possible,” England captain Harry Brook said.“Everyone will hold their hand up and say we had a bad day. We could not get a partnership together. The ball held in the pitch a little, but they bowled really nicely.“We need to put that performance behind us now and get down to London.”England started brightly with successive fours in the opening over from Smith and despite Ben Duckett’s early dismissal, they appeared to be heading towards setting an imposing target. However, a tired-looking shot from Joe Root, after a long summer of cricket, saw him edge the ball for wicket keeper Rickelton to hang onto a juggling catch, signalling the start of a dramatic slump.Spinner Maharaj’s varying pace then bamboozled the batters as England were dismissed three balls shy of half of their allotted 50 overs. England’s debutant seamer Sonny Baker opened the bowling but finished with figures of 0-76 off seven overs.Markram was particularly brutal on him before he was the first of three wickets late in the chase for spinner Adil Rashid, who took 3-26.“It was important to start well,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “We were clinical with the ball, we were under pressure in the powerplay but still managed to get wickets.“With the bat, we could have been more clinical at the end but it should not take anything away from the chase, led brilliantly by Aiden. Fielding was good, caught well, trying to improve. The ball flies off on this square but good effort. We want to build on this momentum, quick turnaround. Lord’s might be different conditions so we’ll try to assess, but we’ve set our standard.BRIEF SCORESSouth Africa 137 for 3 (Markram 86) beat England 131 (Smith 54, Maharaj 4-22, Mulder 3-33) by seven wickets