Wet prospects for Summer Spice final

The prospects of fitting in 100 overs of cricket at Kingsmead today look bleak, but South African coach Graham Ford said on Thursday that the important thing is that his team is switched on and ready to roll their sleeves up whenever they get on the field for their Standard Bank Summer Spice Series final against India.

While groundsman Wilson Ngobese was frantically trying to prepare the ground for Friday's big match after 38 mm of rain fell on Durban, Thursday was a quiet day for the South Africans; their preparation was limited to the mental side of ensuring that they perform to their consistently high standards on Friday.

Ford admitted that the team was frustrated by not being able to practise as much as they normally would, due to the bad weather that has gripped Durban over the last week. "The pitches were still drying after last weekend's rain, so we haven't been able to get the ideal preparation. And the wicket for the final may be a bit too soft and slow for our liking. But I'm happy with the progress we've shown during the series, and the guys are all in good form," Ford said. While South Africa's top-order batsmen have led their charge into the final, the bowlers will be looking forward to a pitch that should give them some assistance, as opposed to some of the terminally flat and low strips they have been forced to bowl on so far this season.

Captain Shaun Pollock has led from the front with the new ball and will be hoping that the weather does not flush out the pace and bounce, so essential to the South African attack, of the Kingsmead pitch. Pollock's immaculate control could well be supplemented by the raw pace of Mornantau Hayward, as South Africa will look to make early inroads into the strong Indian top-order. Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, as watchers of the tri-series already know, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, all have the ability to scatter bowlers all over the field, and wayward bowling will travel far at Kingsmead on Friday. There may have been plenty of carping over the tameness of the South African attack so far this season, but discipline is likely to be their most valuable asset today.

Tendulkar, the holder of all the limited-overs international records that really count, and Ganguly, in thunderous form at present, are obviously the biggest dangers, and South Africa will want to get them back in the pavilion early on. Dravid and Laxman apart, the rest of the Indian batting is inexperienced, although Virender Sehwag has shown that he has a big hit in him occasionally.

Saturday has been set aside as a reserve day for the final and, with Durban and, lower down the coast, East London, looking very wet on Thursday, the match is unlikely to take place Friday. If and when the match does get underway, however, the important thing for the South Africans is to be totally focused as they strive for their fifth successive one-day international series victory at home. The Indians, for once, look like being tigers away from home, and they will not be soft touches in the final.

South Africa: Shaun Pollock (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Nicky Bojé, Mornantau Hayward, Makhaya Ntini, André Nel, Justin Kemp.

India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Deep Dasgupta, Venkatesh Prasad, Shiv Sunder Das, Jacob Martin.