South Africa vs New Zealand World Cup Preview

Southern hemisphere pair South Africa and New Zealand will battle off for a place in the final four at the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the third quarter-final in Dhaka on Friday.>

The Proteas go into the game as favourites after finishing top of Group B with five wins and one loss, while the Black Caps came through in fourth in Group A, although they did record an impressive win over eventual group winners Pakistan.

As mentioned, South Africa go into the clash with favouritism, but there will be an inevitable worry about the ‘chokers tag’ so often applied to the Proteas at World Cups. Can they overcome that?

*South Africa’ Group performance1st in Group B, 5 wins, 1 loss*Results’

West Indies 222, South Africa 223/3, South Africa won by 7 wickets South Africa 351/5, Netherlands 120, South Africa won by 231 runs England 171, South Africa 165, England won by 6 runs India 296, South Africa 300/7, South Africa won by 3 wickets South Africa 272/7, Ireland 141, South Africa 131 runs South Africa 284/8, Bangladesh 78, South Africa won by 206 runs

Statistics Most runs; AB de Villiers (318), Hasham Amla (299), JP Duminy (221) Best batting average; AB de Villiers (106), Hasham Amla (49.83), JP Duminy (44.2) Most wickets; Robin Peterson (14), Imran Tahir (12), Dale Steyn (10)

The Good South Africa’s top-order has been in fine shape this tournament, particularly Hasham Amla and AB de Villiers, although the latter has missed the past two games with injury. Excluding the loss to England, runs haven’t been an issue for the Proteas.

Amla has been outstanding with 299 runs, including two half-centuries and one hundred. De Villiers has only had four innings but made over 300 runs, while JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith haven’t hit top gear just yet.

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While runs haven’t been a problem, South Africa have also been brilliant with the ball, bowling out every opponent they’ve faced this tournament. They have two of the best pace bowlers in the world in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, while left-spinner Imran Tahir has been a super find this World Cup. Robin Peterson is their leading wicket-taker too, to suggest it’s a very potent attack.

The Bad There are form issues for the Proteas with Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis struggling with the bat. Kallis has worked his way into the tournament with two fifties in his past three digs, but Smith is yet to get past the half-century mark which is a worry at the top of the order.

There is also a concern over the form of quick Morne Morkel who has only managed six wickets in five matches. Lonwabo Tsotsobe had a good game against Bangladesh with 3/14 in their final group game, but Morkel should hold his place.

Finally, AB de Villiers’ injury troubles are a worry after he missed the Proteas’ final two group games. He should return but may not be fit to keep, meaning Morne van Wyk stays in the side and Francois du Plessis drops out. That’s not an ideal situation for a quarter-final.

The Captain Proteas skipper Graeme Smith said: “New Zealand has always been a very street-wise, street smart team and they’ve always played well to their abilities and they’ve always got a lot of guys that can contribute so you need to play well to beat them.”

“They have some power batters, some guys that really take the game to you,” he said. “Especially from a bowling point of view, they always take the pace off the ball, they have a lot of guys that can change the pace.”

On surprise wicket-taking spinner Tahir, Smith added: “Imran has been an asset. He is the most attacking of the spinners.”

About his dynamic attack, Smith continued: “We’ve been able to pick up wickets outside of the fist 10-15 overs in the middle period. It’s a mindset thing, the spinners believe they can take wickets and as the captain, I have to believe in them.”

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*New Zealand’ Group performance4th in Group A, 4 wins, 2 losses*Results’

Kenya 69, New Zealand 72/0, New Zealand won by 10 wickets New Zealand 206, Australia 3/207, Australia won by 7 wickets Zimbabwe 162, New Zealand 166/0, New Zealand won by 10 wickets New Zealand 302/7, Pakistan 192, New Zealand won by 110 runs New Zealand 358/6, Canada 261/9, New Zealand won by 97 runs Sri Lanka 265/9, New Zealand 153, Sri Lanka won by 112 runs

Statistics Most runs; Ross Taylor (245), Brendon McCullum (239), Martin Guptill (222) Best batting average; Ross Taylor (81.67), Brendon McCullum (59.75), Martin Guptill (55.5) Most wickets; Tim Southee (14), Jacob Oram (8), Hamish Bennett & Kyle Mills (6)

The Good New Zealand’s top-order has been solid this tournament, but too rarely they’ve all got runs in the same innings. It only happened once and that was against Pakistan when the Black Caps cruised to a 300-plus score and eventually a comfortable win. Martin Guptill’s straight driving has been a feature, while Brendon McCullum has been good, but Ross Taylor has been most impressive particularly his unbeaten 131 against Pakistan.

Tim Southee has been excellent with the ball for the Black Caps, which has been welcome for a team struggling to find a wicket-taker. Southee has 14 wickets this tournament at an economy rate of less than four an over, which is very good. With skipper Daniel Vettori due to return from injury, they may have a better attack to stifle the Proteas.

The Bad One of the chief concerns for the Black Caps is who will take the wickets? Southee has been a quiet achiever during the World Cup with 14 wickets, but they can’t rely on allrounders like Jacob Oram or Scott Styris to pick up the slack. Vettori could play a key role. Indeed, Vettori’s form with the ball hasn’t been superb during this World Cup with only two wickets to date.

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A bigger concern, though, is surely the form of allrounder James Franklin who is yet to pick up a wicket and is only averaging 17.33 with the bat. He’s hardly offered much to the team this tournament, particularly when others such as Styris or Jesse Ryder aren’t performing with the bat.

Injuries concerns have worried the Black Caps in the lead-up to this game but Vettori (knee), Kyle Mills (quad) and Brendon McCullum (knee) should all be fit to play, while Hamish Bennett’s tournament is over due to ankle and Achilles problems. It’s hardly the ideal preparation for a quarter-final.

The Captain New Zealand were thrashed in a five-match series against Bangladesh played at this ground 4-0 last year, so it has bad memories for this side but skipper Vettori said: “I think that is irrelevant now. This is a quarter-final against South Africa. It’s the experience of being here (that we have learnt from). If you go to a ground in a pressure situation and you’ve never been there before it takes a while to get assimilated.”

Vettori added: “They’ve obviously played some very good cricket and been one of the form teams in world cricket for a long time. They’re going to be a huge challenge. We know they’ve got good players up and down their order. But it’s about what we do tomorrow. If we can play well, we give ourselves a chance. If we don’t against a team like South Africa it’s going to be tough.”

Vettori concluded: “We played our best game against Pakistan when the batting fired when we got a guy get through to a 100, with a couple of crucial partnerships through it. We’ve been at our worst when those things haven’t happened. That will be the key to our success.”

“If the top five perform it will give us a chance. We’ve got a very good fielding unit and a solid bowling attack so if we can complement that with a good performance with the bat we will be in with a chance. “

Sports Pundit prediction; South Africa to win relatively comfortably