Quinton de Kock wants South Africa to be mentally strong

After South Africa's atrocious run in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock opined that in order to perform well, the team has to handle the pressure situations well and be mentally strong.

"We just need to be mentally strong, I think. I think that's the only thing that's going to change. I think we've been a pretty successful ODI team over the years, so we don't need to change anything. It just becomes a mental game at World Cup, trying to deal with all the pressures and stuff," Sport24.co.za quoted De Kock as saying.

De Kock's views came ahead of their clash against New Zealand, who have not witnessed a single defeat in the tournament so far. Whereas, the Proteas have managed to register only one win which came against bottom-placed Afghanistan.

Therefore, beating New Zealand appears to be an arduous task for the Faf du Plessis-led side.

26-year-old Quinton has amassed 186 runs from five matches and has already bettered his run tally from the previous edition of the premier tournament, where he gathered just 145 runs in eight innings.

While comparing his current performance with the last edition, he said that he was a "baby" back then and is aware of the mistake he made last time.

"In 2015 I was young ... well, I'm still a youngster now ... but back then I was really a baby. I was playing my first ever World Cup. I think I put too much pressure on myself. I really wanted to do well. And now that I see it a second time, I understand what I did wrong in the first one, and I understand what needs to get done now. This year I'm trying to take it as easy as I can and just try and do my best," he said.

South Africa will compete against New Zealand on June 19.