New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is not about to underestimate South Africa despite the hosts' heavy loss to Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Champions Trophy.

The Proteas conceded 319 runs in 50 overs before faltering in their pursuit as the sub-continental nation walked off with an easy 55-run win in a result concluded by the rain.

The Black Caps now have an opportunity to boot the hosts out of the tournament with a win at Centurion on Thursday, on a track that should once again suit the slower bowlers.

"It doesn't matter to us that South Africa lost to Sri Lanka," Vettori insisted. "We are under no illusions as to how good a unit the Proteas are.

"If we learnt anything from watching Tuesday's game it was about the wicket. We saw South Africa play two spinners - [Roelof] van der Merwe and [Johan] Botha - on a track that proved pretty slow.

"We are not sure if we will be playing on the same block or not and we will have to come to a decision about playing two spinners or not."

Come Thursday's showdown, Vettori hopes his team can use aspects learnt on their recent tour of Sri Lanka, which involved a Test series against the hosts and the ODI Compaq Cup, where conditions were preferable to spin bowling.

"It hasn't hurt that we've just come out of a decent stint in Sri Lanka, where conditions are well suited to spinners so I'm hoping we can take what we put into play there and do so here," he added.

Vettori is looking forward to the Champions Trophy and won't brush it off as just another limited-over tournament amidst an near endless slew of irrelevant ODI series.

"What's great about this tournament is that every game is relevant," he said. "All three group stages are vital towards a spot in the semi-final.

"In the past some Champions Trophy tournaments have included a couple of sort of warm-up games but with the eight best teams here this year every game counts."

As far as the growing number of superfluous ODI series on the Future Tours Programme is concerned, Vettori has a simple remedy.

"The easy solution to me is to just play less games. I don't see the need to tinker with a format that has developed some of the best players and the best style of players in the past. Twenty20 is great but if we overload the public - who enjoy Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 or maybe just one or two of the versions - then we are probably going to lose some fanbase," he concluded.

Looking to New Zealand's campaign after the clash against the hosts, Vettori is looking forward to good contributions from his middle order and bowling unit.

"I'm pleased with the way Jesse Ryder, Neil Broom and Martin Guptill stepped up in the warm-up match against India, all scoring runs and contributing to a big total that we were able to defend," he offered.

"Our batting has been a bit of a struggle of late but that's being corrected and I am backing our bowling unit."

Jonhenry Wilson in Johannesburg