Brendon McCullum can guide New Zealand into World Cup final, says Nick Knight
'Fifth bowling option could dent South Africa's hopes in Auckland'
Monday 23 March 2015 12:24, UK
South Africa have a superb captain and an in-form spinner, says Nick Knight, but won’t make the World Cup final…
With New Zealand and South Africa never having made a World Cup final, you could argue that this semi-final is the biggest game in their history. The good thing for them is that they’re both in great shape.
There has always been a question mark over how South Africa cope in the big moments of tournaments but they will have gleaned a lot of confidence from their quarter-final win over Sri Lanka and they are being exceptionally well led by AB de Villiers, too.
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We go on – rightfully so – about how fantastic De Villiers is as a player but I also like what I hear from his press conferences and the way he talks about his team; he is very upfront, very honest and doesn’t bluff his way through and his players are responding to that.
My one concern for South Africa, though, is the fifth bowling option.
We don’t know what side they are going to pick just yet but if they stick with the one that beat Sri Lanka in Sydney, that will make JP Duminy – and a bit of De Villiers – the fifth bowler, behind the three seamers and Imran Tahir.
I know Duminy got a hat-trick against Sri Lanka but on a small, straight ground like Eden Park he could get exposed and there could be carnage if someone like Corey Anderson gets hold of him.
So I’m sure there will be major discussions about whether to bring in Vernon Philander or Wayne Parnell to bolster the seam ranks, though I think they may feel packing the side with batters and getting by with Duminy and De Villiers may work.
The bonus for South Africa is that they have played in Auckland in this tournament, in a losing effort to Pakistan, so they should have a good knowledge of conditions and dimensions and be able to stick or twist accordingly.
Unpredictable
Tahir’s form is another plus, too; he hasn’t always been superb in Test cricket but he is a fantastic one-day bowler and got great joy against Sri Lanka in the quarters with figures of 4-26 from 8.2 overs.
His great skill as far as I can see, other than that he is always looking to attack and take wickets, is that he has got all the tricks and variations – googlies, top-spinners, leg-spinners – and is not frightened to use them and keep batsmen guessing.
That makes him highly unpredictable – and he will need to be at Eden Park to prevent the likes of Brendon McCullum coming charging down the wicket and plonking the ball over his head.
South Africa have an excellent batting line-up, a fantastic captain, and four-fifths of a great bowling attack – but I still think New Zealand will pip them!
I just feel they will take so much from the way they beat West Indies, in that it was Martin Guptill and, to a lesser extent, Ross Taylor who got the runs and not the usual suspects of McCullum and Kane Williamson getting the lion’s share.
New Zealand proved they can cope with McCullum going early and still post a huge score so I think they go into their semi-final better placed than before, plus they have an absolute diamond as skipper.
I sang De Villiers’ praises earlier on but I think McCullum just edges him on the captaincy front, as he is so comfortable with his aggressive style and just has this real instinct for the game; he is ahead of the game more often than not and when he does have to react he does it quickly.
I think he will be reacting to a win on Tuesday.
Watch New Zealand versus South Africa from 12.30am on Tuesday on Sky Sports World Cup (channel 403).
