All round abilities will be South African trump card

South Africa go into their fourth World Cup tournament knowing that they have an excellent chance of being the first team to win on home soil and hold the trophy aloft at The Wanderers at the end of March 2003.

Shaun Pollock and his team come into the tournament with convincing series wins against both Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but the World Cup is not a series and any inconsistency in performances will see them fall by the way side.

During both the Sri Lanka and Pakistan series the South Africans allowed the opposition to record an easy victory and this type of inconsistency could see the team suffer the same fate as previous World Cup teams.

During their first World Cup tournament in 1992, in Australia and New Zealand, they fell to New Zealand after beating Australia and then got knocked out by England in the famous rain-interrupted, 22 needed off one ball semi-final.

The World Cup in 1996, in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, saw West Indies burst the South African bubble in the quarter-finals after the latter had won ten consecutive one-day internationals.

In 1999 South Africa lost a place in the final at Lord's when they tied the semi-final with Australia after needing one run from the final three balls. This match was, however, not the only slip during the tournament with South Africa being beaten by Zimbabwe in the first round and then failing to defend a 271 total against Australia during the Super-Six stage.

2003 is going to find the South Africans under a lot of pressure from their local supporters. Playing at home will place additional demands on South African players who find themselves in Pool B with West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Kenya, Bangladesh and Canada and on current form should have no problem in qualifying for the Super-Six round.

South Africa face a difficult start to their 2003 campaign, the opening game of the tournament, against West Indies at Newlands on February 9. The result of this match could have a major impact on the tournament for the home team. West Indies has only beaten South Africa twice out of ten games played on home soil but come off a much-improved tour of India.

The Super-Six stage is sure to see South Africa and Australia meet and this will be the most crucial game of their campaign. Australia destroyed South Africa in a one-day series on home soil during the previous season and mentally the visitors will be better prepared. If South Africa gets over this hurdle then nothing should stop them from repeating the rugby world cup win of 1995.

The South African squad is very well balanced and includes some of the top all-rounders in world cricket. Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener are proven match-winners. The matured Herschelle Gibbs and experienced Gary Kirsten are more than capable of taking most attacks to pieces while the evergreen Allan Donald and the much-improved Makhaya Ntini have shown that they have the ability to bowl teams out. Added to that they have Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher who can adapt their games to the requirements of the situation.