Thaindian News

Mohali, March 2 (IANS) With the weatherman predicting rain during Thursday’s World Cup Group B match, in-form South Africa and the erratic Netherlands are keeping their fingers crossed.

South Africa, buoyed by their comprehensive seven-wicket win over the
West Indies in the first match, would like to collect full points from the game against the minnows and in the process also test their bench strength.

Skipper Graeme Smith sprang a surprise by playing all his three frontline spinners - Imran Tahir, Johan Botha and Robin Peterson - against the West Indies, but looking at the pitch here, he will surely be tempted to drop one of them to accommodate a third pacer. Curator Daljeet Singh’s reading of the pitch should reinforce his view.

“The pitch will have good pace and bounce and we will try to ensure that it is a sporting pitch,” said Daljeet.

Pace spearhead Dale Steyn may sit out the match with a hip strain. That leaves Smith to go in with both his reserve seamers, left-armers Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell, to join Morne Morkel.

Tsotsobe has an impressive record in his 19 One-day Internationals with 36 wickets at an average of 19.91.

Any change in the formidable batting line-up looks unlikely.

The Netherlands, on the other hand, have a lot to worry about after successive defeats, first to England and then to the West Indies. Bowling is their biggest concern, with both their opponents smashing close to 300 runs. The batting has looked inconsistent, save the individual brilliance of Ryan ten Doeschate against England and Tom Cooper aginst the West Indies Monday.

Captain Peter Borren admitted after their second match, against the West Indies Monday, that they needed to play as a team to win a few matches.

His counterpart Smith, however, asserted that they cannot afford to take the associate teams lightly.

“We will go into the game expecting them to play well. On any given day, people can perform well. It takes one good performance, like the way Doeschate played against England, to keep you in the game. You can’t afford to take people for granted. You need to make sure you prepare well for each game,” he said.

The two teams played each other in the 1996 and 2007 World Cups, where the Proteas emerged comfortable winners.

The match will also be the first World Cup game at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) ground after the nail-biting semifinal between Australia and the West Indies in the 1996 edition.

Teams (from):

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk.

The Netherlands: Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Baressi (wicketkeeper), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Swarczynski, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.