Such is South Africa's confidence at present that even the absence of one of their established stars in Herschelle Gibbs won't upset their balance or belief as they prepare for Tuesday's opening ICC Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka.
The hosts were dealt a slight blow yesterday when it was confirmed that the rib injury Gibbs picked up during Friday's warm-up match against the West Indies was severe enough to force him to withdraw from Tuesday's opener.
"Herschelle suffered a minor rib and intercostal injury," said the team's physiotherapist Brandon Jackson. "We will start rehab (Sunday) and rest the injury for the next few days.
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"We will re-assess his position after Tuesday's match with the aim of getting him back on the field either for the New Zealand match on Thursday or the one against England next Sunday."
However, what would be a big blow for most other teams is expected to be nothing more than a minor blip for the South Africans as Hashim Amla should step straight into the opening berth alongside Graeme Smith. Amla performed the role with aplomb in Australia last summer, when he made two half-centuries as part of South Africa's 4-1 one-day international series victory Down Under.
Yesterday, fast bowler Dale Steyn explained that stability had been South Africa's greatest ally and was the pillar around which their success in the last year had been built.
"I've seen a lot of teams around the world chop and change their sides every single game, ours is the one team that has had the same side through and through a number of series and that's what you are after," Steyn said.
It's that kind of consistency in performance and selection which is behind South Africa's confidence as they head towards the Champions Trophy.
"Cricket's a funny game, one no ball, one wide, one run, one anything can change an entire game, it's a game of inches and anything is possible," Steyn said. "I do believe that this team has played fantastic one-day cricket and Test cricket in the past year, we've really hit our straps with a pretty solid side.
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