NZ will be wary of the fact that they blew it away against Pakistan in a semi-final World Cup clash in 1999. This World Cup has seen resurgence of Black cats with the performance of Boult, Williamson, McCullum, Corey Anderson, Vettori and now Guptill have all taken the team to the situation they are in today. All NZ would need is continuation of this form for 2 more matches.
The Bowlers are in form with the home conditions plus left-arm pace bowling of Boult who is penetrative and accurate has been a nuisance to the batsmen throughout the tournament. He could be the difference of the two sides and has already taken 19 wickets at a meagre 3.81 runs an over. Vettori, without any notice has taken 15 wickets at 4.21 an over with Anderson 11 wickets and Southee 15 wickets, forming the total formidable bowling lineup.
The batsmen are in good nick too - Guptill has been their latest hero after his heroics against West Indies and is their leading scorer with 498 runs, followed by McCullum 269, Williamson 216 and Anderson 173. If McCullum adds to the bite at the top of the innings, NZ can be scoring very heavily.
The bowler that NZ need to worry about facing will be Imran Tahir who has taken 15 wickets at 4.20, with Morkel 14 at 4.04 and Steyn 10 at 4.50. Imran Tahir has bowled with a lot of energy and purpose in this tournament. It is the economy rate that should worry South Africa.
This tournament has seen batsmen struggling against left arm bowling. But unfortunately, their left armer Parnell, has been well short of confidence.
Amla, other than the century against associate country, have performed below par and this should be a cause of concern for the Proteas. It has thus been AB all the way scoring about 417 runs in this tournament.
With the wicket offering bounce and pace, South Africa are going into this match with only 3 pacers and 2 spinners. They cannot offered to add the fourth fast bowler in Philander as this will affect the overall balance of this team.
This is a big pressure situation. NZ is all about courage, determination and aggression, playing in front of their home crowd. This will have a final word against the team who is capable of being skeptical, wilt-under-pressure.
Weather:
It looks bright and can expect a full day's play tomorrow.
My Playing XI:
NZ:
McCullum, Guptill, Williamson, Taylor, Elliot, Anderson, Ronchi, Vettori, Mills, Southee, Boult
SA:
Amla, de Kock, Faf du Plesis, AB, Duminy, Rossow, Miller, Abbott, Steyn, Morkel, Imran Tahir
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