da betsul： The home side have hit form early on in the tournament and England need to quickly move on from their drubbing against Australia
The Preview by Andrew McGlashan in Cape Town15-Sep-2007
Against teams without a specialist spinner, Owais Shah seems wasted at No. 7 © Getty Images
Contests between England and South Africa are building up a tasty rivalry and their first meeting in Twenty20 is a vital match for both teams. Everyone is back at square one now, with no points going forward from the first round, so whoever starts with a win will have ahead start on chasing a semi-finals slot. The home side have hit formearly on in the tournament, especially with the bat, and will alsobring with them passionate support. England, though, won’t be withouttheir fans at Newlands and need to quickly move on from their drubbingagainst Australia. South Africa’s recently memories are good too,after thrashing England during the World Cup.Bat play: Do England stick or twist, especially with the toporder? Darren Maddy has only had a couple of games, but Vikram Solankiis waiting in the wings and Luke Wright’s last three scores have been0, 0, 3. Against teams without a specialist spinner, Owais Shah seemswasted at No. 7.South Africa have a selection issue after JP Duminy’s useful displayagainst Bangladesh. Herschelle Gibbs is expected to come back into theteam, so it may be a quick return to the bench for Duminy. They showeda degree of flexibility by promoting Albie Morkel to No. 3, withsuccess, so a few more of their allrounders could also performfloating roles.Wrecking ball: South Africa’s bowling attack continues to be atouch one-dimensional, but they at least showed more variety againstBangladesh. Makhaya Ntini is proving hittable with the new ball, hisnatural length allowing the batsmen to get underneath the ball. MorneMorkel has shown he has pace and Vernon Philander continues the strongearly impression he has made in South African colours.England have already tinkered with their fast-bowling line-up, butJames Kirtley’s return to international cricket amounted to one overfor 17 against Australia and he was very nervous. Stuart Broadcontinues to bowl too short, while Andrew Flintoff isn’t doing much toease fears over his injury problems. Chris Schofield has held his own,but the attack certainly doesn’t appear as threatening as it didagainst India only a few weeks ago.Keep your eye on: He’s a common theme, but Kevin Pietersenagainst his former countrymen is never a contest to miss. The lasttime he played in South Africa he went away with three centuries andturned the crowd in his favour. But there is plenty of feeling betweenhim and Graeme Smith.Shop talk: Coach Peter Moores will emphasise to his team the need toplay with controlled aggression. “You have to be brave but you alsohave to be selective as well – that’s the fine balance of Twenty20cricket,” he said. “When things become shortened your decision-makingbecomes a key issue all the time on who you attack and when you attackand you look for opportunities to go.””We’ve had some success in the one-day game against them [England] inrecent times,” said a confident Smith. “Hopefully we can carry thatinto the match. They have some world class players and how we controlthat will be important. Our ability to put their bowlers underpressure will be a key part of the game.” Smith also confirmed thatGibbs’s rehabilitation is coming along well and he should play.Pitching it right: “It didn’t quite play as we expected,” saidSmith after victory over Bangladesh, which hints there was a touchmore bounce in the surface. South Africa found that banging the ballbrought more rewards, so hit-the-deck bowlers could be the key.Teams:South Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs,AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Vernon Philander,Shaun Pollock, Johan van der Wath, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, MakhayaNtiniEngland (probable) Darren Maddy, Matt Prior (wk), KevinPietersen, Paul Collingwood (capt), Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, LukeWright, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Schofield, Stuart Broad, JamesAnderson