England are favourites, says De Villiers

South Africa captain expects ‘close contest’ in semi-final today.

LONDON: England and South Africa will hope lady luck does not desert them when they clash in the Champions Trophy semi-final at the Oval in London today.

Both sides, aiming to end a frustrating wait for a major one-day title, are fortunate to make the last four in the eight-nation tournament, saved either by the weather or their rivals’ bad luck.

South Africa sneaked a tie – and gained a valuable point – at Cardiff last week when rain forced the game to end with West Indies on the exact Duckworth-Lewis par score of 190 for six in 26.1 overs.

England were lucky the weather favoured them in Cardiff on Sunday as the hosts squeezed out a 10-run win over New Zealand in a game reduced to 24-overs-a-side due to rain.

South African captain AB de Villiers said he expected a close contest between two ‘world-class’ sides.

“England will be the favourites because they are playing at home and know the conditions well,” said De Villers. “But I think it is pretty much 50-50.

“It’s up to the team which rocks up with the right attitude that can take that momentum early on and run with it. We’ll be looking to do exactly that and adapt to conditions as quickly as possible.

“England are a world class team and so are we. It’s going to be a great game.”

The South African captain said the only way his team can get rid of the label of ‘chokers’ was to win the tournament.

“I believe all teams choke in certain situations. It’s just that somehow we managed to get that tag behind our names. Unless we win this tournament, people will continue to say we are chokers. But it is not something that bothers us.”

De Villers said premier fast bowler Dale Steyn, who missed two of the three games due to a side strain, was ‘close to 100 percent’ fit, but insisted his team can win even without him.

England skipper Alastair Cook said his team was excited about playing in a major semi-final.

“It’s such an exciting place for a player to be,” he said. “We have come here to try and win the tournament. We have got an amazing opportunity to try and do that and both sides will be excited about that.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2013.