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South Africa has the momentum to advance

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Kiwis have a tough task on hand after emerging from shadow of defeats

— PHOTO: AP

GOOD RUN:It would be to South Africa's advantage if Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Hashim Amla continue with their good show in the quarterfinal match against New Zealand on Friday.

Mirpur: The sun was beating down steadily and out in the middle, Daniel Vettori asked the ground staff to remove the blanket that covered the pitch. The New Zealand captain had a long look at a surface on which his squad's faltering sequence of defeats in ODIs commenced during last October.

The Black Caps lost 0-4 to Bangladesh and subsequently crashed to a 0-5 verdict in India. “It's irrelevant now,” Vettori said when reminded of those days of slumped shoulders.

The left-arm spinner, who has recovered from a knee injury, just wants to handle the biggest challenge staring relentlessly at him — the ICC World Cup quarterfinal against South Africa at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Friday.

South Africa, despite its meltdown against England at Chennai, had been the team to watch out for in Group B, which it eventually topped, and New Zealand has a tough task on hand after slowly emerging from the shadow of defeats.

Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill have scored, though their failures against Australia and Sri Lanka proved costly. Ross Taylor's bludgeoning bat that came into the picture with a fiery hundred against Pakistan, has given Vettori's men a second wind, but Jesse Ryder's middling returns of 19, 38 and 25 in his last three stints, is a cause for concern.

Return of Vettori

Vettori's return will add bite to the bowling while the attack has largely hinged on medium-pacer Tim Southee, who has taken 14 wickets in the tournament.

In the distant past, New Zealand had pioneered many out-of-the-box moves in ODIs ranging from employing the aggressive opener (Mark Greatbatch) to using a spinner up front (Dipak Patel) and more innovative ideas would be required to stop the South African juggernaut.

While Vettori has the onerous task of inspiring his team to play above its cumulative talent, his counterpart Graeme Smith has to watch out for South Africa's fragility in crunch situations. The hard-to-explain collapse while chasing England's 171 had revived the ‘choker' tag, but once South Africa shut out India in a last-over finish at Nagpur the barbs were partially silenced.

The batsmen led by Hashim Amla and A.B. de Villiers have clicked and Jacques Kallis and Jean-Paul Duminy have had their stints.

The attack powered by Steyn and Morkel's menace and peppered with the guiles of Robin Peterson and Imran Tahir can test the best on a pitch that recently has witnessed low scores — Bangladesh's 58 and 78 and West Indies' 112. “I don't think it's a wicket where you can really come out and smash 10 an over,” Smith said.

Have the ability

The World Cup has eluded the South Africans and their ability to stay afloat in strife has often been questioned. Smith's men have the ability to go far and a first step would be made if they can ease past New Zealand.

It is a result that will reflect their current form though in the past, the South Africans have tended to pay undue respect to the ‘glorious-uncertainties-of-the-game' phrase and suffered the horrors.

The teams (from):

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, A.B. de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Morne van Wyk.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wicketkeeper), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Darryl Tuffey, Kane Williamson and Luke Woodcock.

Umpires: Aleem Dar and Rod Tucker; Third umpire: Kumar Dharmasena; Match referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Match starts at 2 p.m.

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