Sport

Chase on for final semifinal berth

S. Ram Mahesh

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados): By 5 p.m., Bajan time, on Tuesday, the 2007 World Cup will likely have its semifinalists: the final four separated from the riffraff. Three — Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka — are certainties at the top table. A fourth chair needs to be drawn up.

The Super Eight match between England and South Africa here at the Kensington Oval is a virtual quarterfinal. The team that loses is knocked out — you did well, but thanks very much. If South Africa wins, it's through, and the remaining matches of consequence in the Super Eight will decide who plays whom where.

If England wins, it almost certainly will squeak through. Michael Vaughan's side will be tied with South Africa on six points, but with a game against the West Indies in hand. Even if England, after defeating South Africa, does lose on April 21, its Net Run Rate — unless the loss is among the most cataclysmic in one-day history — should push it past the other sides to the top table.

Not bad for a bunch of purported no-hopers, who were allegedly centuries behind the evolution of the limited-overs format.

Crucial game

"We appreciate it is a very, very important game," said England coach Duncan Fletcher. "To get it right is going to be a difficult call. It's crucial at this stage we don't tinker too much."

It's almost certain then that Andrew Flintoff, who thankfully tested negative for glandular fever, will not open the batting. "We've looked at Fred opening, but it's a huge change," said Fletcher. "If we mess around with that and think about maybe opening with him and maybe not then the other batters don't know where they are batting. It's also hard to go out there and bowl 10 overs in hot West Indian climate, stay out there for 50 overs and it could be a slow over-rate so you only have 20 minutes to change before you get your pads back on."

KP vs. Smith

The message is essentially English; it's plodding: `Get stuck in lads', `Do your routines'. Mercifully, England has Kevin Pietersen, who can be trusted to shake things up with original thought. Already, England vs. South Africa is being built in British tabloids as KP vs. Smith.

The two have a history, which involves among other things, a difference of opinion on South Africa's quota system, the disinclination to share a beer, and the word "muppet". When Pietersen last played his native country in early 2005, his crouching stance and skilful cracker-barrel strokes fetched him three centuries and a fifty in six innings.

"It's going to be a big game with a lot of needle," said Pietersen. "I don't know why there is needle between the two sides other than there are some really fierce competitors and world-class players on both sides. I just get this feeling inside, this switch that goes and when you wake up to play against Australia and South Africa, they are games that really get me turned on."

What of his feud with Smith? "I think everyone knows we don't get on for whatever reasons," said Pietersen, "but that's gone, it's done, it's dusted, it's finished. It's not about myself, Graeme Smith, Andrew Nel or Michael Vaughan on Tuesday, it's about the collective and producing a big team performance."

Grey areas

Collective team performances are what South Africa does best. But, all hasn't been well in the South African camp. There's reportedly a feeling among the group that some are `Untouchables' and won't be dropped. The cricket side of things hasn't gone to plan either: the side lost the No. 1 ranking during the course of the World Cup. The bowling attack has a sameness about it — hence the need to get Jacques Kallis to bowl cutters, and Robin Peterson left-arm wristspin. But, if a side is to pull off an all-pace attack, the Kensington Oval is the place to try it. Kallis has been among the runs, and South Africa bats deep. The batting hasn't, however, maintained the standards of consistency Smith would have hoped for; worse, Herschelle Gibbs is struggling with a strained muscle. Now's a time as good as any to call forth the stout spirit of the Veldt.

The teams (from): England: Michael Vaughan (capt.), Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Nixon (wk), Ravinder Bopara, Jamie Dalrymple, Monty Panesar, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher (wk), A.B. de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince and Roger Telemachus.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Simon Taufel.

Third umpire: Billy Bowden; Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.

Hours of play (IST): 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and 11.15 p.m. till close.

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