Friday, March 16, 2007

Ntini missing as SA take on Dutch

World Cup Group A, St Kitts: Netherlands v South Africa
Match starts 1330 GMT Friday

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Netherlands captain Luuk van Troost
Graeme Smith will lock horns with Luuk van Troost in Friday's game
South Africa will be without paceman Makhaya Ntini for Friday's opening group game against the Netherlands.

Ntini rejoined the squad on Wednesday after staying home to attend the birth of his second child.

"We don't want him worrying about his wife and new daughter - we wanted his mind fully focused," captain Graeme Smith explained.

Dutch hopes rest with Essex's Ryan ten Doeschate, who took 5-57 and hit 31 against India in a warm-up game.

Ten Doeschate is likely to be one of three South African-born players in the Netherlands side, along with medium-pacer Billy Stelling and batsman Eric Szwarczynski.

"There are one or two in there that we do know - there are one or two South Africans in most teams - but apart from that, we don't know a lot about them," Smith said.

All-rounder Shaun Pollock added: "They don't have too many express bowlers, and I know their keeper (Jeroen Smits) stands up to the stumps for most of the innings.

"That means you have to adopt a different game plan when you're batting because you have to keep your feet in the crease."

Pollock and fellow all-rounder Jacques Kallis are both playing in their fourth World Cup - a feat only matched in South Africa by Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes.

Dutch wicket-keeper Jeroen Smits
Their keeper stands up to the stumps for most of the innings
Shaun Pollock on Jeroen Smits
Meanwhile, the Dutch will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last June's meeting with Sri Lanka, when they conceded a world record one-day international total of 443-9 in Amstelveen.

But captain Luuk van Troost insists they are not just in the Caribbean to make up the numbers.

"We'll be out to prove that we belong," he said.

"We will be playing for our pride. Our first priority will be to beat Scotland, but we also want to do well against Australia and South Africa.

"But it is important to know that every player in the Dutch team is an amateur, except for Ryan ten Doeschate who is an Essex player, while our youngest player Alexei Kervezee has signed a contract for Worcestershire.

"We all have jobs. I'm headmaster of a school and I have to take unpaid leave to be here, so this tournament costs me money."


Netherlands (from): L van Troost (capt), P Borren, D van Bunge, R ten Doeschate, M Jonkman, M Kashif, A Kervezee, T de Leede, A Raja, D Reekers, E Schiferli, J Smits, B Stelling, E Szwarczynski, B Zuiderent.

South Africa (from): G Smith (capt), J Kallis, L Bosman, M Boucher, AB de Villiers, H Gibbs, A Hall, J Kemp, C Langeveldt, A Nel, R Peterson, S Pollock, A Prince, R Telemachus.

Umpires: M Benson (Eng) and T Hill (NZ)

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