Morne Morkel ready to stand up to David Warner in T20s

South African pace spearhead Morne Morkel has lit the fuse for a blazing individual battle with Australian destroyer David Warner in the opening Twenty20 cricket international at Cape Town.

The Australian opener is the form T20 batsman in the world, coming off sizzling back-to-back centuries at the Champions League tournament in India.

But Morkel, Warner's IPL teammate at the Delhi Daredevils, has promised to "fight fire with fire" when he charges in at the Australian opener with the new ball at Newlands.

Warner smashed 135 not out off 69 against Chennai and an unbeaten 123 from 68 against Royal Challengers, with his freakish combination of right-hand and left-hand slogging for NSW the hallmark.

But Morkel said the Proteas would take the fight to Warner as he jokingly dared the Australian to try his switch-hitting against his 150km missiles.