ST LUCIA: CRICKET: Australia and South Africa prepare for their semi-final clash

Australia captain Ricky Ponting acknowledged on Tuesday (April 24) that the absence of a serious challenge so far at the World Cup had prompted his team to set their own targets. The world champions, who meet South Africa in Wednesday's second semi-final, are only two games away from an unprecedented World Cup title hat-trick. They have not been defeated in the tournament since losing to Pakistan in the 1999 group stages. One-day cricket, where early pitch conditions and the toss of the coin can play a disproportionate role, encourages the underdogs. Ponting's genius has been to minimise the role of luck in different conditions throughout the Caribbean and help create a team which can overcome any obstacles. South Africa briefly disconcerted Australia in the group stages in St Kitts when they reached 160 for no wicket chasing 378 to win. They eventually lost by 83 runs. "Yes. Definitely. I think South African Cricketers play their cricket very similar to the way we play it. They are very aggressive. They are up for a fight. I think that's what makes the games that Australia and South Africa play very interesting I guess and enjoyable to play in. Its always a great challenge, its always a good fight and I think all of the Australian players in this current side are looking forward to those challenges tomorrow," said Australia captain Ponting. "We have know right the way through that by the time we get to this stage it doesn't matter what has happened beforehand. It all comes down to a hundred overs tomorrow. If we happen to win great. If we happen to lose we have no one else to blame but ourselves," added Ponting. South Africa hope history does not repeat itself after a combination of rain rules and tied matches have cruelly knocked them out from three of the last four World Cups. Ranked second in the one-day charts with performances over the years next only to top-ranked Australia, captain Graeme Smith said his team were determined to defeat the champions at their best. South African World Cup history is littered with heartbreaks. In the 1992 semi-final against England, they required 22 runs from 13 balls but a heavy downpour meant the controversial rain rule used in Australia revised their target to needing 21 runs from one ball. It ended their World Cup campaign. Seven years later, their second-round defeat by Australia came back to haunt them after a dramatic batting collapse enabled the eventual champions to tie the semi-final and go through. Hosting the tournament in 2003, South Africa were again left devastated after a miscalculation of the Duckworth-Lewis table in a rain-hit match against Sri Lanka saw them end one run short of their target. The tie eliminated them in the first round. However, there has been a change in the attitude of one of the most intense set of international cricketers. South Africa, who have a psychologist in their World Cup entourage, have constantly harped on their last-gasp Super Eights victory over England to qualify rather than look back at past failures. "The guys are very, very calm at the moment. I haven't been involved in this team when I have seen leading up to a game of this magnitude where I have seen guys so calm. The guys are calm. They know about the game. We had a couple of meetings yesterday afternoon to discuss a couple of things and the guys are immensely calm," said South Africa coach Mickey Arthur . The quartet of survivors from the 1999 tied semi -- all-rounders Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock, batsman Herschelle Gibbs and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher -- are determined to make amends. While Australia have perfected the art of steamrollering their opponents in double quick time in this tournament, neutral fans will be hoping that another fantastic game of cricket will unfold on Wednesday. Teams: Australia - Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath. South Africa (from) - Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt, Robin Peterson.

ITN Source | April 26, 2007

Tags:. .caribbean. .aggressive. .nathan. .jacques. .shane