The Hindu : Sport : Can the South Africans deliver this time?

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Sunday, Mar 04, 2007
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Can the South Africans deliver this time?

S. Dinakar

They need to hold their nerves and exorcise the ghosts of the past

In managing the overs without a quality spinner lies Graeme Smith's biggest World Cup challenge. Can his distinctly pace-oriented attack pull it off?

As the new World No. 1 seeks its maiden World Cup triumph, the side has to find urgent solutions to vexing questions. The attack takes top priority.

On the home pitches offering seam movement and bounce, the South Africans play their cards well. Makhaya Ntini & Co. blow away the top-order, creating the pressure. The support pacemen, backed by brilliant all-round fielding, keep the batting side under considerable stress. Gradually, all escape routes are closed.

Pitch assistance

But then, if the pitches of the Caribbean, some of them newly laid, do not provide early assistance, South Africa could struggle.

The side needs to strike with the new ball. Take a recent ODI on a surprisingly placid pitch in Durban for instance. This was a game where there was hardly any initial help for the pacemen. The Pakistani batsmen cut loose.

Chasing 351, South Africa was dismissed for 210. In eight home ODIs against India and Pakistan this season, South Africa lost just one game. But the debacle in Durban would have sent worrying signals to the South African camp.

Normally, Smith gives his spearhead Ntini a six-over burst, while the canny Shaun Pollock could bowl up to seven or eight in his first spell. Invariably, this pair of contrasts strikes. Then, Smith introduces either Charl Langeveldt or Andre Nel (depending on selection). Jacques Kallis and Andrew Hall send down the middle-overs. Kallis hits the deck, Hall swings it.

The bowling has firepower, not great variety (there is no left-arm paceman in the side).

There might be changes in Smith's line of thinking, depending on situations, but South Africa is without a serious spin alternative; left-armer Robin Peterson has not convinced many.

Other alternatives

Smith could send down off-spin himself, or give a larger share of overs to Pollock in the middle to deny the batsmen pace; Pollock's slump in speed could be used judiciously. Justin Kemp's medium paced off-cutters are another option.

This said, South Africa swept aside West Indies 5-0 in the ODI series in the Caribbean (2005). Langeveldt's reverse swing provided South Africa with a series-clinching triumph in Barbados. He hat-tricked in the 50th over bowling a fuller length. Langeveldt will be the key man at the death.

But then, it can be argued that even if the South African bowling falters, the side has the batting to clinch chases, particularly on the smaller grounds of the Caribbean.

Contrasting openers

The left-handed Smith and the right-handed Abraham de Villiers (a shorter man) not only force the bowlers to switch line, but, because of a difference in their height, get them to bowl at varying lengths as well.

Then, Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs (both are influential), Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp, Pollock and Hall form a line-up of great depth.

Men like Kemp, Pollock and Boucher can clear the field with ease; on smaller grounds, they would be hard to stop. The left-handed Prince, a fire-fighter, has been strategically slotted in the middle-order.

This is an outfit of all-rounders — Kallis, Pollock and Hall should be buzzing around. Wicket-keeper Boucher can make several sides as a pure batsman, while Kemp can chip in with medium pace.

Pressure factor

How this line-up copes with the pressures of the World Cup will be interesting. In the past, the side has crumbled from winning situations.

Many believe there is a soft spot in the South African psyche. Yet, has the side turned the corner after the historic chase (435) at the Wanderers last year — one that exposed the chinks in the Aussie armour?

Smith's men have been grouped with Australia at St. Kitts. From a psychological perspective, the duel against the Aussies will be crucial for the South Africans.

South Africa should enter the semifinals. From then on, the side has to hold its nerve; it has to exorcise the ghosts of the past.

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