Despite the fact that luck has not gone its way with the cricketing nation, South Africa have an impressive unit from 1-11 and can beat anyone on their day. The cricketing nation has had players capable of brilliance right throughout and this time around the squad list reads similar to an all-star line-up.
The expectations are very high. Can South Africa deliver this time?
The world cup run has been quite unfortunate and frustrating for the Proteas. In 1992 it qualified to the semi-final against England and due to the rain rule that was used at that time the requirement was 21 runs off one ball. Agony struck again in 1996 in the tied semi-final against Australia, which worked out better for the Kangaroos. South Africa was knocked out in the group stage itself against Sri Lanka in 2003 when a win was required. It reached the semis in 2007 but was defeated again by Australia. Despite being the front-runners in their pool in 2011 it couldn’t go past the Kiwis in the quarterfinal.
AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla with the bat can devastate any bowling attack on their day. AB scored the fastest ODI century off just 31 balls against West Indies in January. He definitely is in strong form. Meanwhile Amla is the quickest to reach 5000 runs in the ODI format in terms of innings played. Furthermore the likes of du Plessis, de Kock, Duminy & Miller can add valuable contributions to the batting line-up.
Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel &Vernon Philander with the ball can make life very hard for the batsmen. Steyn is feared and respected by batsmen right throughout the world. He offers a rare combination of controlled swing and sheer speed. Morkel and Philander complete the trio and can offer blistering pace and bounce. In addition the talented junior Wayne Parnell and the spin spearhead Imran Tahir will be of great value to the team.
