With success in the prelims, the expectations are high back home for both South Africa and New Zealand when they take on each other in the third quarterfinal match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Friday.
For South Africa, this is the moment of reckoning, as they need to shrug off the annoying tag of chokers that has stuck like glue. As far as Kiwis are concerned; they are counting on their skipper Daniel Vettori to lift their game against the formidable opponents.
Statistically, South Africa are a superior outfit and have shown tremendous promise in the league phase. They have stuck to their gameplan, shown aggression, good organization and discipline in all departments of the game.
Their performance is further boosted by superlative fielding - perhaps the best among all teams in the tournament. This is probably, why they are rated as one of the tournament favourites.
Of course, the track record of the South African team in knock out games of the World Cups is quite dismal. They haven't made it to a World Cup final ever, but this time, Graeme Smith and his men are looking quite determined.
So far, South Africa have lost two semifinals and have tied the third (which saw them crash out of the 1999 event). In 1996, they were eliminated once in the quarters. But these are all numbers, when it comes to this quarterfinal, it all about starting from scratch.
As a matter of fact, the South Africans are not complacent and not taking New Zealand lightly. Leading into this tournament, Vettori's team may have lost a couple of series in the sub-continent by embarrassing margins, but the South Africans are firm believers that New Zealand are a 'street smart' team and so they need to be respected.
Players like Vettori, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris are some of the big match players and don't like to be tormented by better ranked teams all the time.
This is the same New Zealand team, which mauled Pakistan, who are one of the semifinalists in the tournament. For them, this match is like challenging the world rank. While the South Africans have registered a place in the last eight by the virtue of clinching five group stage matches, New Zealand reached this stage after four wins in the competition.
In previous World Cup matches, New Zealand have won thrice and lost twice to South Africa. However, this is one venue, which has seen some of the most one-sided games in the tournament. Bangladesh were dismissed cheaply twice at this venue for 58 and 78 respectively in their group matches and then the West Indies surrendered meekly infronts of Pakistan on Wednesday. Can we expect a cracker of a contest or will it be another lop-sided affair? Both the captains assured that the match will be a keenly fought match.
It's a battle between the South African pacers versus New Zealand batsmen; the war is going to be between New Zealand spinners and the power-house that is the South African batting.
For South Africa, this is the moment of reckoning, as they need to shrug off the annoying tag of chokers that has stuck like glue. As far as Kiwis are concerned; they are counting on their skipper Daniel Vettori to lift their game against the formidable opponents.
Statistically, South Africa are a superior outfit and have shown tremendous promise in the league phase. They have stuck to their gameplan, shown aggression, good organization and discipline in all departments of the game.
Their performance is further boosted by superlative fielding - perhaps the best among all teams in the tournament. This is probably, why they are rated as one of the tournament favourites.
Of course, the track record of the South African team in knock out games of the World Cups is quite dismal. They haven't made it to a World Cup final ever, but this time, Graeme Smith and his men are looking quite determined.
So far, South Africa have lost two semifinals and have tied the third (which saw them crash out of the 1999 event). In 1996, they were eliminated once in the quarters. But these are all numbers, when it comes to this quarterfinal, it all about starting from scratch.
As a matter of fact, the South Africans are not complacent and not taking New Zealand lightly. Leading into this tournament, Vettori's team may have lost a couple of series in the sub-continent by embarrassing margins, but the South Africans are firm believers that New Zealand are a 'street smart' team and so they need to be respected.
Players like Vettori, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris are some of the big match players and don't like to be tormented by better ranked teams all the time.
This is the same New Zealand team, which mauled Pakistan, who are one of the semifinalists in the tournament. For them, this match is like challenging the world rank. While the South Africans have registered a place in the last eight by the virtue of clinching five group stage matches, New Zealand reached this stage after four wins in the competition.
In previous World Cup matches, New Zealand have won thrice and lost twice to South Africa. However, this is one venue, which has seen some of the most one-sided games in the tournament. Bangladesh were dismissed cheaply twice at this venue for 58 and 78 respectively in their group matches and then the West Indies surrendered meekly infronts of Pakistan on Wednesday. Can we expect a cracker of a contest or will it be another lop-sided affair? Both the captains assured that the match will be a keenly fought match.
It's a battle between the South African pacers versus New Zealand batsmen; the war is going to be between New Zealand spinners and the power-house that is the South African batting.
