UAE crucial prep ahead of tougher tests

South Africa are all but certain to play their quarterfinal in Sydney after the two teams they will likely take on tussled there on Sunday. Australia and Sri Lanka were effectively playing for second spot in Group A and Australia's victory means South Africa will likely not meet them until, and if, they reach the final, which will come as a comfort to AB de Villiers and co.

Australia were responsible for South Africa's exits in 1999 and 2007. Moreover, South Africa lost 1-4 when they visited Australia in November, as part of a recce for this World Cup.

While Sri Lanka present different challenges, notably in batting strength, South Africa will be more confident against them, especially after they beat them in a series last July. Although Sri Lanka have scored over 300 three times in five matches in this tournament, once while chasing, South Africa have only conceded over 300 once.

They will back their seamers and their use of the short ball to give them an advantage but that is why they need to use the match against the UAE to fine tune their attack. That will largely depend on the fitness of Vernon Philander, who South Africa have indicated will slot back into the XI as soon as he is available.

After missing matches against West Indies and Ireland with a hamstring injury, Philander was declared fit the day before the Pakistan game but had to be withdrawn from the starting XI on the morning of the match when he felt discomfort during warm-ups. After the game, de Villiers denied Philander had failed a fitness test but went on to say, "there is nothing more I can say about the fact that he is just not fit."

South Africa have to decide that the attack that plays against UAE is used in the quarterfinal. If Philander is not fit, he should not be used in the knockouts even if he is fit. Either way, they may be tempted to go without him because of the impressive form of Kyle Abbott, who has the best average and strike rate of the South African pack so far.

They also need to clearly identify a fifth bowler against UAE. JP Duminy is one half but de Villiers cannot be the other. If South Africa are going to keep Rilee Rossouw in the XI, then he should absorb some of those duties. If not, they have no choice but to bring back one of Farhaan Behardien or Wayne Parnell, to do the job of an allrounder. Parnell would be the more tempting choice because his pace will be seen as an asset against Sri Lanka later on.

South Africa may not be able to address the concern - chasing under pressure - against UAE but they can try. If they have the choice, they should bat second to see how they will structure a chase. UAE may well be blown away as they were against India, which may not test South Africa as much as they want but that's not a guarantee. In the two other matches in which they batted first against Zimbabwe and Ireland, UAE scored 285 and 278, all totals in South Africa's weak zone.

If they use Thursday's game to hunt down a total in that region without too many nervous moments, they will go to Sydney looking forward to, rather than dreading a knockout.