BARBADOS: CRICKET - South Africa and England train before fighting for the last semi-final place in the cricket World Cup

South Africa and England face a tough game on Tuesday to win a place in the final four. South Africa skipper Graeme Smith urged his misfiring team on Monday (April 16) to adapt to a lively pitch in Tuesday's must-win World Cup Super Eights game against England. Both teams are aiming for victory to claim the remaining semi-final spot and join champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. South Africa have six points ahead of their last Super Eights game while England, on four points, need to win to make sure their final game against hosts West Indies is not rendered inconsequential. Smith's team have lost their tag as top-ranked one-day team after their shock 67-run defeat against Bangladesh and then a five-wicket loss against New Zealand on Saturday after their batsmen failed on slow pitches in Guyana and Grenada. Despite South Africa's problems, Smith denied the team, dubbed World Cup chokers, were again succumbing to pressure. He also played down controversy over a late-night drinking session by some players after the New Zealand defeat. "After a game if a couple of guys want to go blow off some steam I have no issue with it. It's a long tournament, there's a lot of pressure on and the guys will be well prepared by tomorrow. We have drinking rules and as long as they don't go into those drinking rules that's fine with me. The matter will be discussed if the guys pushed the limit, then that will be discussed and dealt with," he said. He said the wicket of in-form England batsman Kevin Pietersen would be crucial. Smith has had a poor personal relationship with Pietersen, who migrated from South Africa to further his playing career, but said the focus would remain on winning the game. "We have had our run-ins and tomorrow is an important game of cricket. He's an important cog in that England set-up and he's a vital cog for them. So how we knock him over tomorrow is going to be important. And it's a cricket game that we want to win. I don't see it getting any more than that. As far as his cricketing abilities we have respect for that and we'll show it tomorrow." England skipper Michael Vaughan hoped his team could repeat the late surge to win this year's tri-series in Australia. "I wish we had performed a little bit better to now but we can do absolutely nothing about the way we've played so far. The only thing we can look forward to is producing something tomorrow. We have a control of the way we can do that. I'm certainly excited about the prospect of playing South Africa because we always know it's a tough game and a great challenge and it should be a great spectacle for everyone," he told reporters. The seven-week World Cup culminates in the April 28 final in Barbados.

ITN Source | April 18, 2007

Tags:. .career. .victory. .certainly. .slow. .pushed