Teams:
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Morne van Wyk.
Netherlands: Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.
NEW DELHI: The Netherlands skipper Peter Borren won the toss and decided to field first against South Africa in a Group B ICC World Cup match at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali on Thursday.
Graeme Smith's Proteas, playing only their second World Cup match, wouldn't take the match lightly especially after watching Ireland's upset win over England on Wednesday.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, have already lost two games - one after giving a spirited fight to England and the other after meekly surrendering to the West Indies.
In the Proteas' seven-wicket crushing win over the West Indies in their World Cup opener, Pakistan-born leg-spinner Tahir took four wickets for 41 and off-break bowler Johan Botha claimed two for 48 and though left-arm orthodox Peterson went wicket-less, he made significant impact.
The pitch in Mohali, known for offering more bounce than most of the Indian wickets, would favour pacers. To add to their advantage, this is going to be a day match that will enable the South African pacers to exploit the early morning conditions well.
The seven-day break between the two games helped the Proteas address injury concerns to their key players Steyn, Tahir and JP Duminy.
For the Netherlands, it would take a massive effort to register a win especially after their dismal show against the Caribbean side in New Delhi, where they lost by 215 runs after failing to make a mark in any department of the game.
The 'Oranje brigade', which has been struggling with poor bowling from the very first game of the tournament, failed with even the bat against the Windies.
They were bundled out for a mere 115 runs with the hero of the opening match - centurion Ryan ten Doeschate - also not being able to put up a good show.
Nevertheless, the team will heavily bank on the South Africa-born Ten Doeschate, who is expected to leave behind the last game's disappointment and come good with both the bat and ball again.
Tom Cooper, who scored 47 in the first match and fought a lone battle against West Indies to remain unbeaten on 55 in the next, is also a crucial cog in the Dutch scheme of things.
Even the statistics are against the Dutch, who lost to South Africa in the two previous encounters, both at the World Cup - a 160-run defeat in 1996 and a 221-run loss in 2007.
But with the Netherlands having the reputation of springing surprises, and cricket being an unpredictable game, anything out of script in this battle of two most mismatched sides in world cricket would make it an extremely interesting encounter.
