South Africa all-rounder Wayne Parnell gave a classic reply when he was asked about his experience of visiting Odisha for the first time. South Africa reached Odisha on Friday for the second T20I against India at the Barabati Stadium Cuttack on Sunday. Parnell said India are known for two things - cricket and their hospitality. "We feel very welcome here. My first time here. The place we are staying in is very nice. Two things India do very well is - cricket and hospitality. It's been really awesome here," said Parnell in the pre-match press conference in Cuttack on Saturday.
The left-arm seamer, who played his first T20I in close to five years on Thursday in the series opener in New Delhi, expected India to come back strong after suffering a 7-wicket defeat in the first match.
"This match is going to be crucial. India will definitely bounce back. They are a quality side. We don't expect anything else. Every single game till the Bengaluru T20I is going to be very very tough. Obviously, it was a great win the other night and we can take a lot of confidence from it but now we have a brand new venue, new conditions so we have to adapt and start afresh," Parnell said.
South Africa chased down 212 with five balls to spare to go 1-0 up courtesy of sparkling fifties from Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller. The Cuttack pitch is likely to be similar in nature and Parnell expects it to be another high-scoring contest.
"The conditions here probably favour run-scoring more. It is just about what we are going to get on that particular day. It did swing around a little bit so maybe we can use that to our advantage as well. Difficult to assess. The side strip was pretty green and with overhead conditions, it did swing around a bit. Maybe for the seamers, there will be a little bit with the new ball. But the actual wicket, we have to see how it is on the matchday," he said when asked about the playing conditions.
{{/usCountry}}"The conditions here probably favour run-scoring more. It is just about what we are going to get on that particular day. It did swing around a little bit so maybe we can use that to our advantage as well. Difficult to assess. The side strip was pretty green and with overhead conditions, it did swing around a bit. Maybe for the seamers, there will be a little bit with the new ball. But the actual wicket, we have to see how it is on the matchday," he said when asked about the playing conditions.
{{/usCountry}}