'Watching AB bat doesn't astound me anymore' - Domingo

You don't have to go to Eden Park proper to see why it could be a batsman's venue. You only have to go as far as the B field.

There, the squashed tomato look of the window pane on a green door at the bottom of the Merv Wallace Stand tells the story. The dent was apparently gifted to the venue by Glenn Maxwell last week. Who knows how many more times it has been shattered?

The Australians were practising hitting the balls as long as possible, to target the straight boundaries inside New Zealand's largest stadium. Undoubtedly, many teams think that way when they see the invitingly short distance on a ground with rugby dimensions. But Russell Domingo, has cautioned his South African charges that even though they "would like to play Pakistan in rugby," it's not the oval-shaped game they will be playing on Saturday.

"You can easily think you need to get 400 because of the nature of the field and then get blown over for 150 or 160 like we saw in the other two games," Domingo said. "We have to make sure we get off to a solid start."

Against a Pakistan attack which has found its rhythm, that will not be easy. "They've got some great bowlers. The tall man Irfan has been bowling really well at the moment and I think Wahab Riaz has bowled the quickest ball in the competition thus far - 154. They are definitely a bowling attack that needs to be respected and we need to take care against them," Domingo said.

South Africa have so far taken great care at the get-go. Their Powerplay scores have been lower than normal and on the one occasion when it wasn't, against Ireland, that was because of the presence of one man: Hashim Amla. Domingo reminded that Amla "sets up and wins so many games for South Africa," and tipped him to tee South Africa up for another AB de Villiers special on a ground that seems to be made for exactly that.

"Watching AB bat does not astound me anymore," Domingo said. "You become used to it and you are almost expecting something special from him. He is a wonderful player but we have also got other wonderful players too. Hashim was the fastest to 20 hundreds. Virat Kohli is a helluva player and to get the same amount of hundreds in 30 innings' less than him is an unbelievable feat.

"Hashim goes very much under the radar. He sets up and wins so many games for South Africa, which allows guys like AB and David Miller to play those types of innings. We are not astounded by AB's performances but those performances generally come on the back end of great starts."

None of that may happen if South Africa win the toss and go by recent history to decide their course of action. "The venue says its a chasing ground," Domingo said. "Seven out of the last ten games have been won chasing. Chasing is not a bad option"

With chasing also the area of South Africa's game that needs the most work, they may see it as an opportunity. But their main aim is to simply win. "Pakistan's record of chasing scores - I don't think they have chased over 260 in the past six years - is a defining factor in terms of winning the game which is always important," Domingo said.

What it actually boils down to is that South Africa are planning for both everything and nothing against a team that has a knack for throwing a surprise or two. "Pakistan's unpredictability is not a challenge because they are predictably unpredictable. If that makes sense. Their strength lies in the predictability of their unpredictability," Domingo said.

On a ground that was first designed for cricket but has revamped for rugby and hosts cricket anyway, something as discombobulating as that seems to make perfect sense. Go figure.