South Africa and England go into the fourth Standard Bank one-day international at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday with a win each, but the South Africans may have the edge over the visitors ahead of the fourth match.
Coach Ray Jennings said on Saturday that the team have shown their class by chasing two big totals and getting them, on Wednesday and on Friday.
”It’s amazing to see just how much they want to win,” he said. ”I think we may have the momentum now — we got totals that no one expected us to get, and the spirit in the South African squad is fantastic now. They are really competitive, and they really want to win this series.”
South Africa also have the advantage that the English team are reaching the end of a long tour, and many of their players are showing signs of tiredness.
The selectors are unlikely to change the team who won the third match at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
Swing-bowler Charl Langevelt was having tests to determine his fitness, but he is not in Cape Town, and will not play on Sunday. If he passes the fitness tests, he will almost definitely be brought back into the squad for the remaining three matches, in East London, Durban and Pretoria.
England may bring fast-bowler Steve Harmison back into their team for Sunday ‘s match. He was reported to have recovered well from his calf injury. He may replace Matthew Hoggard, who was showing signs of fatigue in Port Elizabeth, or he may replace Paul Collingwood.
Captain Michael Vaughan is expected to be fit to play, but England may want to retain Vikram Solanki, who played well on Friday.
South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs said South Africa do not mind which bowlers they have to face, although he suggested it might be to South Africa’ s advantage if Harmison were to play.
”Matthew Hoggard may be very tired, but he’s had a lot of success in South Africa, so his confidence is high.
”Harmison didn’t do as well as expected in the Tests, so he may not be too confident. Also, we might find that we can score more easily off Harmison — the ball comes hard at you, and you can hit it to the boundary.” — Sapa
Teams
South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Nicky Boje (vice-captain), Adam Bacher, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Rudolph
England (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Alex Wharf