South Africa’s Smith wary of England backlash

Swann urges teammates to hold their nerve today.

CHENNAI:

South Africa captain Graeme Smith said he expected to face a fired-up England following their humiliation by Ireland, when the Test rivals meet in a World Cup match today.

Andrew Strauss’ team was victim to one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history when Ireland, inspired by Kevin O’Brien’s record-breaking 50-ball century, chased down a 328-run winning target  on Wednesday. It was a victory that threw the race for quarter-final places from Group B wide open.

England have a win, one defeat, as well as the memorable tie against India from their three matches while South Africa have two wins in two games after comfortable victories over West Indies and the Netherlands.

A competitive game

However, England have a good recent record against the Proteas, winning seven out of their past eight One-Day Internationals against South Africa. “I think England-South Africa’s always a big game,” said Smith.

“It’s very competitive and it’s a game you look forward to.” As for England’s response after the Ireland loss, Smith said, “They are a very proud team and have had some good ups over the last few years.

“They have the ability to play really well and as a team we know that. We expect them to bounce back.

“The Ireland result will have hit them. It was terrific for the World Cup to watch Ireland get the victory. Today will be a very different game.”

Previous campaigns have often seen the Proteas accused of choking but, with the exception of all-rounder Jacques Kallis, few of the current squad have much in the way of a lengthy World Cup history behind them. Significantly, an attack once over-reliant on fast-bowling has been boosted by the inclusion of Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir and he could have an important role to play on a Chidambaram pitch set to take turn.

Do not panic: Swann

England off-spinner Graeme Swann urged his teammates to hold their nerve. “If we start panicking and thinking we’re the disgrace that half the people on Twitter thought we were on Wednesday night, there’s no point in us playing,” he said.

“But to win three-quarters of the game against Ireland and throw it away so catastrophically, that’s the sort of thing that can ruin momentum.”

It is on the field where England have problems. They went into the Ireland match keeping faith with senior seamer James Anderson and fit-again Stuart Broad in place of Ajmal Shahzad. They persisted with Anderson despite the fact the swing specialist had conceded 91 runs against India - the most by an England bowler in a World Cup match.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2011.