South Africa look to maintain winning run


When the fixtures were drawn up for the ICC World Twenty20, few would have thought that the last match of Group E would be an inconsequential one. But that's how the results have panned out, thanks to India's insipid display and some outstanding planning by their opponents. South Africa will now look to implement the same tactics and ensure that they enter the semi-finals with an all-win record in the tournament.

South Africa have been mighty impressive in all aspects so far, but their line-up will be slightly weakened by the absence of Jacques Kallis. He has been magnificent at the top of the order but will be rested ahead of bigger matches. His replacement won't make things any easier for the beleaguered Indian batsmen, though: Morne Morkel walks in for his first game of the tournament, and you can be sure he'll give the Indians another examination of short-pitched bowling. Kallis being rested will also give more batting opportunities to some of the others in the line-up, specifically JP Duminy, Albie Morkel and Mark Boucher, all of whom have played less than 30 balls in the tournament.

For India, this is the last chance to get some crumbs from a campaign that has gone terribly wrong. Their batsmen have been found wanting against the short stuff, and there's every chance they'll have to battle more of the same against Parnell, Steyn, Morkel and Co. With no pressure on the batsmen, though, it might just allow the Indian batsmen to break the shackles and bat with a freedom that wasn't seen in the last two games.

Watch out for...

Wayne Parnell has been in sensational form in the tournament, while the Indian batsmen have historically had problems against left-arm fast bowlers and are now low on confidence. All this suggests Parnell could have another successful outing at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

Yuvraj Singh has been India's in-form batsman in the tournament, and he'll want to finish off on a personal high.

Team news

South Africa have already announced that Kallis will be rested and Morne Morkel will be given a chance. The rest of the team is likely to be unchanged, unless Graeme Smith decides he wants to further test India against pace, and bring in Yusuf Abdulla for one of the spinners.

South Africa: (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 JP Duminy, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Wayne Parnell.

Ishant Sharma has been a huge disappointment and could make way for Irfan Pathan. Pragyan Ojha could return too, which will mean India field the same team which played the earlier games.

India: (possible) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 RP Singh.