 South Africa will take on New Zealand in the second Super Eight game of the ICC World T20, which will get into its second stage of the tournament. South Africa
lost their first game to India but are expected to go through with a win over
Afghanistan in their last game of the tournament. New Zealand, on the other
hand, played rather well, and won both their games at Guyana, against Sri Lanka
and Zimbabwe, and will look to continue with this run of theirs.
Click for Live Score Card of South Africa Vs New ZealandSouth Africa will be happy to play at the Bridgetown ground in Barbados, and
the simple reason behind it is the kind of pace that the pitch has there. There
will be bounce, pace and carry and that will make the South African bowlers
lick their lips in glee. Dale Steyn has been in the form of his life
and has either bowled economically or has scalped a lot of wickets for the side;
making his four overs rather crucial.
But one gets the sense that the time has come to get in Charl Langeveldt,
who is an excellent bowler at the death, and some thing like a repeat of what
happened in the previous game against India will probably not be allowed to
repeat. The Indians had plundered the runs against South African bowlers in
the final overs and there was nobody to bear the brunt of the attack.
South African captain Graeme Smith made an interesting point about the finish
to a tournament not being the same as the start, and that they knew it better
than most of the others! While that is definitely the case, the Kiwis will look
to exploit the chinks that were exposed in the previous game by the Indians
and hence, this match could just go down to the wire.
New Zealand, on the other hand, won both their games, and credit must be given
to the fact that all their players are fit now. Jesse Ryder is back into
the side and batted well against SriLanka, while Jacob Oram's all round skills
have obviously been of great help.
However, the biggest value addition to the side has been the form of Nathan McCullum, who has bowled his best ever in his career, in the last two games
and won the man of the match award twice. He will continue to open the bowling
for his side and the contest between the South African top-order and McCullum
will be an interesting one to watch
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