Aussies to fight Steyn's fire with fire

Steve Smith wants Australia to fight fire with fire when it comes to South Africa's returning spearhead Dale Steyn.

Steyn hasn't played for the Proteas since their Boxing Day Test against England because of a shoulder injury.

But the express paceman is fit, firing and ready to unleash his fury on Australia in the Twenty20 clash that starts in Durban at 3am (AEDT) on Saturday.

Smith backed his top order to attack Steyn, who made his international debut in 2004 and has featured in some classic battles with Australia.

"T20 cricket is obviously all about going out there and being quite positive early," Smith said.

"We've certainly got the players that can hopefully get a few runs off him.

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"You've got to be nice and positive.

"He generally bowls in the first six overs, and when there's only two fielders out you've got to try and make the most of that."

Steyn has terrorised teammates in the nets at Kingsmead this week, having recently proven his fitness in a club game.

The 32-year-old is determined to make a point in response to those opining he's on the verge of retirement and shouldn't be playing all three formats.

"A hungry Dale Steyn is the reason why we were thinking of selecting him for this World Cup," South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said on the eve of the three-match T20 series opener.

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"Dale, when he's like that in that space, he'll be consistently proving to everyone that he's the best bowler in the world.

"It's great to see him hungry."

Du Plessis noted Steyn had lost none of his pace.

"He's been injured for a long time but it's good to see that even though he's been injured ... it looks like he's bowling at full pace and everything's ready to go," he said.

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Earlier this year, Steyn teed off at suggestions he could be nearing the end of an 82-Test career.

"Absolute rubbish - I played 48 Tests in a row, didn't miss a single one and, now suddenly, I'm an injury liability at the age of 32?

"It's ridiculous. Injuries can happen to anybody but I'm still one of the fittest players in the squad and I have many, many overs left in me."

Meanwhile, Smith was upbeat Australia's attack would find a way to neutralise AB de Villiers.

"He's an incredible player," Smith said of one of the world's best batsmen. "We've got a few plans in store for him and hopefully we can execute them well in these three matches."