London - All eyes will be on Dale Steyn on Wednesday morning when the South African spearhead comes out for a late fitness test just minutes ahead of the Champions Trophy semi-final against England here at The Oval on Wednesday.
Steyn is in serious doubt after sustaining a hip-muscle strain. It is a continuation of the wretched luck that has followed the world’s premier fast bowler at this tournament. He suffered a side strain in a warm-up game against Pakistan at this venue a fortnight ago, which forced him to miss the bulk of South Africa’s early campaign.
Steyn has trained lightly in the build-up to this knockout game, with yet another easy-paced bowl at practice on Tuesday. It was nothing close to the pumped-up Steyn we saw in last Friday’s thriller against the West Indies in Cardiff when in his only game thus far he splattered Marlon Samuels’s stumps to bring South Africa back into the game.
The Cape Times understands that Steyn will be put through a rigorous fitness test to see whether he will able to complete his full complement of 10 overs without the fear of breaking down.
South Africa have already experienced another major fast bowler, Morné Morkel, hobbling off the field during this tournament.
Rory Kleinveldt, who played in the opening game against India, has been placed on standby should Steyn not get the go-ahead from the Proteas management team.
Proteas captain AB de Villiers was initially optimistic that go-to man Steyn would be fit to take his place when addressing the media early on Tuesday morning, saying “we’re just managing his workload at the moment”.
However, it seems De Villiers was being characteristically optimistic, although he seemed to consign himself to the fact that South Africa could be without Steyn later on. “It would be great to have him in the team. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with mental games, anything like that. We’ve won games without him and with him.
“Not having him in the side will be big for us, but then again, like I said, we’re playing good cricket and we’re confident we can beat England without Dale,” the captain said.
South Africa can beat England
South Africa can certainly beat England, even without their talisman, but it will require another herculean effort from the likes of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Chris Morris. In the absence of Steyn, the duo showed they were ready take on the responsibility with a spirited display against Pakistan in a group game earlier in the tournament.
But while that was a must- win game for South Africa too if they hoped to progress in this Champions Trophy, the pressure will be greater simply because of the occasion. England are the host nation, and will be spurred on by a rousing capacity crowd, while South Africa’s history in knockout matches like these precedes them.
De Villiers displayed a strong jaw on Tuesday when he was hit with the inevitable “choker” question, and even threw a few spirited jabs of his own.
“Look, we’ve had two big games, the last two games we played, and we didn’t choke there. Obviously that’s a good start.
“We owned up to it before. It’s something that’s been around for a while. I believe all teams choke in certain situations. It’s just that we have somehow managed to get that tag behind our names,” the skipper said.
“Unless we win this tournament, people will say you’re chokers, so no matter what happens, it’s something we’ve dealt with. I think we’re very comfortable with it in the team. We know what we’re capable of as a team and we’re in a very good space.
“We’re not thinking of stuff like that. But even in the same breath, it’s not something that really bothers us at the moment.”
The Proteas have the opportunity to banish the demons that have plagued South African cricket on Wednesday by qualifying for their first major ICC final appearance since annexing this very trophy in its inaugural capacity back in 1998.
De Villiers’s team should take confidence from the fact that that 1998-group performed the historic feat without the likes of then-regular new-ball duo Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, similar to the situation that faces the Proteas.
Cape Times