WC 2011: Reserve day from knock out stage

Mumbai, Feb 10 (PTI): A reserve day has been factored in from the knock out stage in the World Cup which will commence with the Group B preliminary league clash between India and Bangladesh at Mirpur on February 19.

Play would be continued from where it stopped on the scheduled day of the quarterfinals, semifinals and final if it spills over into the reserve day, as per the playing conditions of the tournament.

"There shall be one reserve day allocated to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on which an incomplete match shall be continued from the scheduled day."

"Every effort will be made to complete the match on the scheduled day with any necessary reduction in overs taking place and only if the minimum number of overs necessary to constitute a match cannot be bowled on the scheduled day will the match be completed on the reserve day," the playing conditions state.

There would be no reserve day for the group matches.

The quarterfinals are scheduled on March 23 (Mirpur), March 24 (Ahmedabad), March 25 (Mirpur) and March 26 (Colombo) and the semi finals are to be held on March 29 (Colombo) and March 30 (Mohali).

The final is at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.

SA look to asses fitness in warm-up tie against Zimbabwe

Chennai, Feb 11 (PTI): One of the title favourites, South Africa start their World Cup sojourn with a warm-up match against Zimbabwe here on Saturday, a match which is expected to help both teams assess their fitness and acclimatise to the conditions ahead of the big one.

High on confidence after their ODI series win over India last month, South Africa will look to gain vital match practice in the day-night encounter at the refurbished M A Chidambaram Stadium here.

The Graeme Smith-led Proteas, after a hard-fought Test and ODI series against India at home, have had two days of nets since their arrival here on Wednesday.

Smith had already indicated that the team's sole aim this time around, is to bag the coveted trophy that has not only eluded them so far but also earned them the tag of chokers.

Having lost three semifinals and a quarterfinal despite being the title contenders in their past five World Cup appearances, South Africans would like to make it a memorable event for the 30-year-old Smith, on his last ODI assignment as the skipper.

South Africa are in Group B with Bangladesh, England, India, West Indies, Ireland and the Netherlands. They are slated to play another warm-up tie against Australia on February 15, nine days before opening their World Cup campaign against the West Indies on February 24.

Despite leading a team bulk of which consists of World Cup first-timers, Smith sounded confident and said his wards are best prepared. A major worry, of course, will be the fitness of veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is recovering from a rib injury he suffered during the series against India. Smith has indicated that Kallis would not bowl tomorrow.

Besides Smith and Kallis, AB de Villiers and Robin Petersen are the other two survivors from the last edition of the tournament in the West Indies.

Realising the importance of slow bowlers on sub-continental wickets, South Africa have plenty of options in their spin attack, described by Smith as the most varied.

Pakistan-born uncapped leg-spinner Imran Tahir is tipped to be the secret weapon for the Proteas who also have two other frontline spinners Johan Botha and Peterson besides part-timers. The pace attack would be spearheaded by Dale Steyn.

Morne van Wyk, with his experience, would bring more strength to the batting line-up that boasts of the likes of the in-form Hashim Amla, who has consistently done well against India, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe, currently in a rebuilding phase, have nothing to lose and would look to cause an upset or two, like they did against Australia in a warm-up tie during the T-20 World Cup in April last year.

Chasing Zimbabwe's 173 for seven, Australians fell short by one run.

Coached by former England batsman Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe have won just eight of 46 matches in seven appearances.

The team's last notable performance in the tournament was in 1999 when it beat India and South Africa to storm into the Super Six stage.

Skippered by all-rounder Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe are hoping their tour of Bangladesh last December and inputs from West Indian legend and consultant Brain Lara would stand them in good stead during the tournament.

The team has three seamers, as many specialist slow bowlers, and it would rely on them to make for the lack of firepower in fast bowling.

Pollock believes SA will reach World Cup final

JOHANNESBURG: Former South African skipper Shaun Pollock believes that the Proteas will reach the final of the World Cup, starting on February 19.

Pollock, who played four World Cups, including the one in which he was the captain of South African team in 2003, said this time round there would not be any fear factor for the Proteans.

"There is no other team to be afraid of," the Afrikaans weekly Beeld quoted Pollock as saying at a function.

"In previous tournaments Australia instilled fear in its opponents because of their domination. This time that is not the case. That is why South Africa have a good chance of returning as world champions," he added.

Pollock said South Africa should just survive the group phase, "after that it just needs three big performances to become world champions."

He said India will face tremendous pressure as a host nation, while Australia have many problems and will particularly miss the experience of Michael Hussey.

"I also favoured the chances of the English, but there is something missing in them. New Zealand is also not a threat and the West Indies are now so weak that they are just making up the numbers. Pakistan is like the French rugby team -- you never know what mood they will show up," said Pollock.

Pollock said he believed that the core team that was in action against the visiting Indian team in the recent tour would be seen in action in the sub-continent."

"(New cap) Imran Tahir (former Pakistan player) will probably play against the smaller sides to see how he performs," said Pollock.

TOI