JAMES BRYANT, Edgbaston | Wednesday 5.35pm
TOURNAMENT favourites South Africa take on New Zealand in the World Cup Super Six on Thursday having learned some sobering lessons from the recent tightly fought series against them.
The Kiwis ran South Africa very close in a one-day tournament on their home soil earlier this year which the South Africans just won 3-2.
”One of the first lessons we learned was that they are a better side than people give them credit for in one-day cricket,” South African captain Hansie Cronje said on Wednesday.
”I think their one-day record against South Africa is very good. It took us quite a long time to get that series under the belt…I don’t think we are going to take it lighter than any other game.”
A victory at Edgbaston would secure the South Africans a place in the semi-finals with one more second-round game to play. But South Africa are thinking bigger than just a slot in the last four.
”Our aim is to try to finish top of the Super Six. The guys are very, very keen to take all four points (from the remaining two second round matches,” Cronje said.
The winner of the Super Six round plays the fourth-placed team in a semi-final at Old Trafford next Wednesday.
With the second semi-final taking place the following day, the winners of the Old Trafford match have the advantage of an extra day to prepare for the final at Lord’s on June 20.
The South Africans should feel at home in Birmingham. Key fast bowler Allan Donald has been based here for the Warwickshire county side since 1987 and his partner Shaun Pollock also played for them in 1996.
Added to that, Bob Woolmer, a former England and Kent batsman and now the inspiration behind the South African squad, was also coach at Warwickshire for several years when they were the dominant team in English cricket.
After nets on the main Edgbaston ground on Wednesday, Cronje said he thought the pitch looked very good.
The South Africans will be facing a team with the most prolific wicket-taker in the tournament so far in Geoff Allott who already has 18 victims to his name. — Reuters