PREVIEW: South Africa craves high-profile glory

Once again South Africa will turn up at an ICC event with one of the most balanced sides. What that means is that on paper the team looks like it could take on the best in the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales. It also goes into the competition as the No. 1 ODI side in the world.

What’s more, ahead of the tournament Kagiso Rabada was revealed to be the new No.1 ranked ODI bowler, meaning South Africa begins CT17 with the top two bowlers (Rabada and Imran Tahir) and top batsman (AB de Villiers) in the world.

History, however, has shown that South Africa isn’t built for pressure-cooker games. It won the inaugural edition, in 1998, when the tournament was called the Knock-out Trophy, but has since crashed out in the semifinal on four separate occasions.

That certainly is a surprise when you take into account the quality of players to have come through its ranks: Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and so on. The current crop, led by de Villiers, is talented and more determined than ever to break the jinx and rid itself of the ‘chokers’ tag.

History
Since winning the trophy in 1998 in Bangladesh, South Africa has done everything to break away from its reputation of being that side that falters in the knock-out stage. Alas, it hasn't managed it yet. It has made it to the semifinal on five occasions, one more than Australia, which has won the title twice, and made it past the final-four stage only once. Only twice has it not qualified for the knock-outs.

Recent form
South Africa’s record and form in ODIs in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy had inspired de Villiers to say, “No one can stop us”. This statement came after its 3-2 win away in New Zealand and the 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka at home. Further back, South Africa had decimated Australia 5-0 at home. But given South Africa’s performance in the first two games against England in the three-game series this month, de Villiers would’ve wondered if he had spoken too soon. Come the third game, however, and the real South Africa turned up to smother England with a seven-wicket win. It was the perfect blend of aggressive bowling and calculated batting. Perhaps, the trend will continue.

Watch out forWinning an ICC trophy is all AB de Villiers has worked on for a while now. At 33 he knows he isn’t getting any younger and has made it clear that he would like one title to his name before he hangs up his boots. This obsession with ODI cricket – he has even taken a break from Test cricket – is to deliver South Africa a World Cup. This tournament, as a ‘mini World Cup, could set the ball rolling. In his personal form, he hasn’t lived up to his standards of late, but batsmen of de Villiers’s caliber need just one game to get into a mind-blowing rhythm. The world’s No.1 ranked ODI batsmen scored 30-ball 27 not out against England in the third and final ODI, and that might be the innings he needed to shake off any rust.

SquadAB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Keshav Maharaj, Dwaine Pretorius, Farhaan Behardien, Morne Morkel.

FixturesJune 3: v Sri Lanka at The Oval, London
June 7: v Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham
June 11: v India at The Oval, London