The Hindu : Sport : Uphill task awaits South Africa

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Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006
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Uphill task awaits South Africa

G. Viswanath

A second win will almost certainly take Sri Lanka to the next stage

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

CAN THEY DELIVER? South Africa will be looking to old war-horses Herschelle Gibbs (left) and Shaun Pollock to come good in a crunch match against Sri Lanka.

Ahmedabad: An uphill task awaits South Africa in the Champions Trophy at Motera here on Tuesday when it takes on Sri Lanka in a crucial encounter. Outplayed by New Zealand at Mumbai, Greame Smith's team has had plenty of time to erase from its mind the sloppy performance at the Brabourne stadium. Smith raised a hue and cry after the 87-run defeat, but has calmed down now.

Exactly a decade ago a South African team under Hansie Cronje was defeated by India at the Sardar Patel Stadium here in a Test. Javagal Srinath proved his mettle with a haul of six for 21 on a worn out pitch. The South Africans were unlucky too with a couple of rough decisions going against them. Unhappy with the pitch, Cronje and the then coach Bob Woolmer said the pitch was a poor advertisement for Test cricket.

Nothing adverse

The current South African coach, Mickey Arthur remembers the unpleasant event but has nothing adverse to say about the current pitch. Like Arthur, Smith commended the pitch, the outfield and the stadium itself.

He added that his team has to rise above itself to beat back the Sri Lankan challenge, while Mahela Jayawardene's side has quickly regained its bearings after losing to Pakistan at Jaipur.

The onus is clearly on South Africa to make the match count in order avoid elimination. South Africa has the wherewithal, but its survival in the competition depends on its capacity to manipulate Sri Lanka's varied bowling attack.

It's neck-neck between the two teams far with Sri Lanka winning 21 matches and South Africa 20. Smith said his was a quality one-day team. "You don't get to being No. 2 in the world without being able to beat quality teams in their own backyard. The key tomorrow is going out there, relaxing and playing the kind of cricket we know we're capable of. The pitch here looks better than what we had in Mumbai and hopefully it produces a good game of cricket.

Our first seven or eight are among the best in the world, and we cover all the areas pretty well. We've got big hitters at the bottom and power strikers at the top. Sri Lanka is probably the form team in the tournament. They have played the qualifying games and done well. They're the team that has got their combinations right and most of their players are performing well."

Sri Lanka is equally determined to cross another major hurdle. "We did not lose focus against New Zealand and it will be the same against South Africa,'' said Jayawardene. A second win will almost certainly take Sri Lanka through to the knockout stage.

The teams (from): South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, A.B. de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Kemp, Robin Petersen, Loots Bosman, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, T. Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Mutthiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Malinga Bandara.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Daryl Harper (Australia); Third: Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Fourth: Amit Saheba. Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).

Hours of play: 2.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 6.45 p.m. onwards.

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