The Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup opens with an unexpected competitor.

Team USA have entered the Caribbean leg of the tournament as a surprise package and are determined not to bow out any time soon.

“We are not going to go down without a fight,” coach Stuart Law told Al Jazeera after the USA’s qualification for the Super Eights was confirmed.

The diverse USA squad includes two players of Caribbean origin who have played the game in the region in the past, and one of them, Aaron Jones, believes his side will get good support from the crowd in the West Indies.

“Me and Steven [Taylor] have a lot of support in the Caribbean, so we will definitely have some support tomorrow,” Jones said on Tuesday in his pre-match news conference.

The USA vice captain, who hit the joint highest number of sixes (13) in the group stage, said his team are excited to rub shoulders with the biggest sides in the world.

“The boys are excited to play against the best teams in the world. We wanted to do that. We’ve been speaking about that over the last couple of years. And here we are now, so we’re just going to enjoy our cricket and, as I said, play fearless cricket all the time.”

South Africa will be wary of the threat the Americans pose, and captain Aiden Markram agreed that his side will have to “be on their best game” against the co-hosts in Wednesday’s game.

“A lot of the people will say [the USA are one of the] smaller nations, but they are not, and they have proved it,” Markram told reporters.

With the Super Eight games spread across multiple venues in the Caribbean, Markram said it will be vital for his side to gather as much information as they can about each ground.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!! 🇺🇸🔥🙌

For the first time ever, #TeamUSA have qualified for the Super 8 stage of the @ICC @T20WorldCup! 🤩✨

Congratulations, #TeamUSA! 🙌❤️ pic.twitter.com/tkquQhAVap

— USA Cricket (@usacricket) June 14, 2024

Pitch condition

The Antigua pitch has produced a mix of low- and high-scoring matches, but conditions remain favourable for batting, and the pitch is vastly different from the one in New York, where all team struggled to score.

There will still be some assistance for bowlers, especially wrist spinners and bowlers with high accuracy and control.

Weather forecast

The forecast for this week is cloudy and humid with negligible chances of rain.

Head-to-head

The teams have never met in any format of the game.

Form guide

While the USA lost their last completed match of the tournament against India, they would have gained confidence from their competitive display against the South Asian powerhouse. The debutants showed plenty of grit and control in their historic super over win against Pakistan.

South Africa are one of the four unbeaten sides in the tournament so far, but were nearly at the receiving end of a huge upset against Nepal in their last group match.

USA: L W W L W
South Africa: W W W W L

🏏 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐘 | #SAvUSA

It’s Super 8 Time! ⚡️

Watch the Proteas take on the USA as they aim to get their Super 8 campaign started with a “W”.

🗓️ 19 June
🏟 Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
🕚 16:30 CAT
📺 SuperSport Grandstand (Channel 201)#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt… pic.twitter.com/idEmdFMQef

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 19, 2024

USA team news

The USA will welcome back their captain, Monank Patel, who missed the match against India, and left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige, who showed plenty of control with the ball against Pakistan.

Squad: Monank Patel (captain), Shayan Jahangir, Aaron Jones, Andries Gous, Nitish Kumar, Steven Taylor, Harmeet Singh, Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jessy Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nosthush Kenjige

South Africa team news

The Proteas may look to play two spinners and call up the wily Keshav Maharaj in place of one of their three pace bowlers.

Squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Bjorn Fortuin, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi