‘We’re better at handling pressure’

Safs to miss Ntini; Telemachus or Peterson to replace him in final eleven

South Africa’s record pursuit of 434 last year against Australia has given them belief that anything is possible in one-day cricket.

Speaking ahead of South Africa’s opening World Cup match against the Netherlands on Friday, captain Graeme Smith pointed to the 3-2 series win over Australia in March 2006, capped by scoring 438 in the final game, as proof. “Once you achieve targets of chasing over 400, you almost break the barrier in terms of thinking what’s possible,” he said.

“To chase 434 and win the game really gives you a lot of confidence in all facets of what you want to achieve, and I think this team broke a lot of barriers that day.”

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Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath had accused South Africa of fearing defeat and a lack of self-belief, echoing comments from former Australia skipper Stephen Waugh. But Smith returned the retort, and spiced up the key Group A clash between the world’s top-ranked teams at Warner Park on March 24.

“I think we’ve handled pressure a lot better than Australia of late, in the big games,” Smith said. “In the last 10 one-dayers, we’ve been under pressure at times and got out of it superbly. We’ve been four or five (wickets) down and we’ve still got close to totals of 300.

“Australia have struggled of late before this tournament, in some finals and obviously in New Zealand, but both teams come into this tournament with the same amount of pressure on their shoulders.”

South Africa have to first play the Netherlands and Smith will be without fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, who rejoined the squad Wednesday after staying home to attend the birth of his second child. “We wanted him to sort out his family business first, we don’t want him worrying about his wife and new daughter,” Smith said. Ntini is likely to be replaced by either paceman Roger Telemachus or left-arm fingerspinner Robin Peterson, but Smith is concerned by the size of Warner Park and hinted that pace might be referred.

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“The ground looks pretty small. It’s not very big — the straight boundaries look small,” he said. “With our ability to hit the ball out of the ground, it’s certainly going to play into our hands.”

Men in action

• South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, H Gibbs, Loots Bosman, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Roger Telemachus. Coach: Mickey Arthur.

• The Netherlands: Luuk van Troost (capt), Darron Reekers, Baz Zuiderent, Alexei Kervezee, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Daan van Bunge, Eric Szwarczynski, Tim de Leede, Peter Borren, Billy Stelling, Jeroen Smits. Coach: Peter Cantrell.

• Officials: Mark Benson and Tony Hill; Third Umpire: Steve Bucknor; Fourth Umpire: Asoka de Silva; Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle.