The Hindu : Sport : Destiny still in South Africa's hands: Coach Mickey Arthur

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Monday, Oct 23, 2006
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Destiny still in South Africa's hands: Coach Mickey Arthur

G. Viswanath

`The next two matches are semifinals for us'

AHMEDABAD: South Africa was driven to despair by the disputed nature of the pitch at the Cricket Club of India. Minutes after suffering an 87-run loss to New Zealand last week, captain Graeme Smith was in a belligerent mood calling the Brabourne pitch "sub-standard" and "not quite acceptable for an international match."

However, before its do-or-die match against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday, the mood in the South African camp has changed for the better.

"We are under pressure, but international cricket is always a pressure cooker situation. It's like two semifinals for us. We hold our own destiny and do not have to rely on other results. We can still go all the way, but we have to be on the top of our game to do that," said coach Mickey Arthur.

The coach welcomed ICC's decision to use glue in order to obtain consistent bounce and make sure that the pitch stays good for 100 overs.

"Unfortunately it all happened after our game. The way the pitch behaved in the second half of that game probably prompted the decision. In ODI cricket you cannot have a game of two halves. You cannot have a pitch behaving totally different in the second innings," he said.

Squandered advantage

"Yes, we had the advantage of winning the toss but we squandered it. At hindsight we can say we should have batted. All the information we got leading up to that game suggested we bowl second. You cannot have a pitch that behaves well for the first 50 overs and then acts poorly in the next 50. That is too much an advantage for the side winning the toss," he said.

"It's hard for me to criticise the wicket once you have lost the match. I don't want to look for excuses. The seamers were really effective because the bounce was up and down. The bounce became very variable and the ball stopped going through the top, which makes the life of the batsmen miserable against seamers. The variable bounce killed us at the end of the day. Some of the balls Jeetan Patel turned were unbelievable," he added.

Must-win situation

Categorically stating that his team had to improve in all departments of the game, Arthur said that it was a must-win situation for his team. "We were disappointed with our performance against New Zealand. The wicket obviously did not help, but we did not play well enough to threaten them. We are contemplating a change. We have an option of playing an extra batsman in AB de Villiers. The pitch and stadium look great," he said.

"Sri Lanka boasts of many seasoned campaigners and they have flexibility in their batting as well. Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga get them off to fantastic starts. So it's very important for us to try and curb them upfront. They use Mahela Jayawardene to continue that and have guys like Kumar Sangakkara and Marvan Atapattu to sort out the middle," he said.

"They have a huge variety in their bowling attack which is a plus point. Chaminda Vaas bowls left-arm swing, Lasith Malinga is a strike bowler who bowls quick with a funny action and they have Murali and Jayasuriya. Then they have Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof who hit the right areas and are always testing you," Arthur added.

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