Symonds back after clearing fitness test

Although only rating himself as 95 per cent fit, Symonds doesn’t expect to be restricted in his fielding. “The only thing I haven’t done is had a full game and match-fitness is probably the only thing that is an unknown,” he said. “The adrenalin of being back out there in this competition will probably be enough to get me through it.”

The Australian allrounder has not played since February 2, when he damaged his right biceps tendon batting against England.

Meanwhile, Australian captain Ricky Ponting revealed he is half-expecting to bat first regardless of who wins the toss. “South Africa historically like to bowl first in most of their one-day games,” he said. “I’ve had a look at a lot of stats the last few days, and they’ve got an amazing record in day games of winning the toss and bowling first. I would imagine that would be their style of play at this venue. I’ve been pretty happy to bat first out here in the first two games we’ve played,” Ponting added.

The match will also be significant in crowning the No 1-ranked limited-overs team by the April 1 deadline for the end-of-season rankings.

If South Africa win they cannot be overtaken, but if Australia are victorious they will move within striking distance with two matches to play before the cutoff date.

If Australia win on Saturday then South Africa’s match against either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in Guyana next Wednesday in the Super 8s will be crucial for the ranking. Australia have games against West Indies on Tuesday, and either India or Bangladesh on March 31 in Antigua that are also potentially significant.

South Africa opener AB de Villiers believes the teams are too close to favour one over the other. “I don’t think there’s a lot of difference,” de Villiers said. “I think it’s just the ability to put it together on the day. It needs some big-match temperament, so it’s going to be a smashing game.”

De Villiers followed up his second-delivery duck against the Netherlands last Friday with a 45-ball 62 versus Scotland on Tuesday. “I did start off slowly against Holland,” he said. “My game wasn’t where it should have been, but it came right against Scotland. Hopefully on Saturday, I’ll go out there and prove I’m a good opening bat.”

South Africa’s only selection quandary appears to be whether to pick swing bowler Charl Langeveldt or paceman Andre Nel for the fourth and final bowling spot. Langeveldt was preferred to Nel for Tuesday’s seven-wicket win over Scotland, but his two wickets cost 48 runs against a very modest lineup.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith said this week that they no longer feared Australia, and while Ponting agreed that South Africa have played well over the past two years, he was keen to establish one point.

“Trust me, they’ll still be talking about us in their team meeting tonight, don’t worry about that,” he said.

–Rub Murray