Proteas claim mental edge ahead of World T20

South Africa T20 skipper Faf du Plessis has claimed a mental edge over England ahead of their crucial clash at the ICC World T20 in India.

The Proteas cruised to a 2-0 T20 series win over England on Sunday, winning the second match in Johannesburg by nine wickets and with more than five overs to spare.

A 29-ball innings of 71 from star batsman AB de Villiers, who was elevated to opener, and an unbeaten 69 from Hashim Amla helped the Proteas chase down England's total of 172 in the 15th over.

South Africa have now won eight of their past nine T20 internationals and will fine-tune their preparations with a three-T20I series against Australia, which starts in Durban on March 4.

Looking even further ahead, Du Plessis says his side's series win has laid down an important marker ahead of their crucial Group 1 re-match with England in Mumbai on March 18.

"You always want to leave an imprint on a team so when you meet them again they can remember that feeling or result," Du Plessis said.

"From a mental point of view it is great. But I suppose the English team will say that when we meet in the World Cup it is a new game, a new opportunity and it is all square again.

Quick Single: Proteas cruise to series win

"But, for me, as a captain, I would rather be sitting on the winning side than going there having lost to England 2-0.

"As a team, we will take a huge amount of confidence from this."

South Africa and England will be joined in Group 1 by 2012 World T20 winners West Indies and defending champions Sri Lanka, along with a qualifier.

While England's Australian coach Trevor Bayliss described Sunday's loss as a case of "men against boys", he and captain Eoin Morgan remain optimistic as they prepare for a tournament England won in the West Indies in 2010.

Despite losing the final five matches of their two-month tour of South Africa - three one-day internationals and two T20s - Morgan says his young and new-look side are a great chance to win a big limited-overs tournament in the near future.

"I don’t think it is a huge setback," Morgan said.

"The things we did wrong were pretty simple and they all have to do with the basics of the game.

"We have been quite lucky with this team. We have had very few setbacks. We knew we would have setback at some stage, but what is important is how we regroup and learn from this.

"It's just a blip - we've had such a good run of things in white-ball cricket.

"I honestly think we are on the right track playing a brand of cricket that can win an ICC event, whether it is this one coming up or one in 2017."

Du Plessis also stated his preference for de Villiers to open the batting in India, with one of Amla or in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock set to partner him.

The 32-year-old, who has vast experience in the Indian Premier League, hammered six sixes and six fours at The Wanderers as he posted the fastest ever T20 half-century by a South African.

"I feel that especially in India, someone like AB has the potential to blast a team away and get a hundred ... because he scores so quickly," Du Plessis said.

"You just have to go with what you think your strongest team is in the conditions. If we had a World Cup in South Africa or England, maybe it would be a different scenario.

"But especially in the conditions we’re going to, I feel AB is best suited to bat as much as possible."