With the West Indies out of the Twenty20 World Championship, there is no pressure on South Africa in their group match against Bangladesh at Newlands on Saturday evening, Proteas skipper Graeme Smith said on Friday.
”It’s a free game for us to make sure we get our basics right, but we can also experiment and play our game. There’s no pressure on us tomorrow [Saturday] — we just need to get used to the conditions for Sunday.”
Smith said his hand was still sore after being hit by Daren Powell in the opening match against the West Indies on Tuesday.
”I’m very, very lucky it’s not broken. Now it’s just about dealing with the pain and getting some power and strength back in the hand. I batted [in the nets] today and that was fine. It’s important for me, as captain, to play.”
However, his opening partner Herschelle Gibbs, who has a strained hamstring, will not play on Saturday, although it is hoped he will be fit enough for the match on Sunday.
”Hersch is about 65%, 70% ready,” he said. ”The physio has been working with him and he’s coming along well. We’re pretty sure he’ll be ready for Sunday.”
He said the team are confident ahead of the match against Bangladesh. ”The team’s in a good space. All we need to do is adapt to the conditions here. We’ve got a lot of depth in all departments and for me, I’ve got a little more variation to play with in my head. We’ve got options to use, and that’s encouraging.
”We’ve got a nice balance — our real quick bowlers are guys that get extra bounce, like Morne Morkel. That steep bounce will always been an asset for him at Newlands. We’ve also got the likes of Vernon [Philander] and Polly [Shaun Pollock] and Justin Kemp, who can take the pace off the ball, and bowl wicket to wicket.”
In the other match on Saturday, Sri Lanka and New Zealand meet at the Wanderers at 2pm. This should be a fascinating match. Both teams annihilated Kenya in their group match.
Like South Africa, both are assured of going through to the Super Eights and may use this match to experiment a little. Both have big hitters and some very tricky bowlers, like Lasith Malinga for Sri Lanka and Daniel Vettori for New Zealand. It should be a fascinating match between two sides capable of reaching and winning the final of the tournament. — Sapa