Symonds fit to face South Africa

World Cup Group A, St Kitts: Australia v South Africa
Match starts 1330 GMT Saturday
Live Score of the matches will be available here.

I threw very freely, no pain at all - I would say I'm 95% fit now Andrew Symonds after training

The top two one-day sides in the world will meet in a heavyweight showdown when South Africa take on Australia in St Kitts on Saturday.

South Africa are eager to prove they are worthy of their recently acquired number one status.

But with both sides already through to the Super 8 phase, two points to carry forward is the main prize on offer.

Australia have decided to gamble on the fitness of Andrew Symonds, who recently underwent shoulder surgery.

It will be his first match of the tournament but skipper Ricky Ponting said: "We are approaching this as big a game as a semi-final or final. Symonds is ultra-important.

"He wouldn't be here if we didn't know how big a player he's going to be for us through this World Cup."

Symonds, who will replace Brad Hodge, added: ""I wouldn't go out there if I didn't think I could play a full 100 overs."

South Africa may recall fast bowler Andre Nel in place of Charl Langeveldt for the first World Cup match between the two sides since their famous tied semi-final at Edgbaston in 1999, when Australia went through because of a fractionally superior run rate.

Graeme Smith believes South Africa are the equals of Australia

Warner Park is one of the tournament's smaller grounds and supporters are anticipating a high-scoring encounter, although perhaps not as high-scoring as the match between the sides in Johannesburg last year when South Africa successfully chased a target of 434.

"We've come a long way against Australia - I don't think there's that fear factor any more," said South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

"It's about going out there and performing well. There's a lot of respect on both teams. It's going to be a cracking game and hopefully it lives up to what everybody wants to see."

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Australia (from): R Ponting (capt), A Gilchrist, N Bracken, M Clarke, B Haddin, M Hayden, B Hodge, B Hogg, M Hussey, M Johnson, B Lee, G McGrath, A Symonds, S Tait, S Watson.

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, M Ntini, R Peterson, S Pollock, A Prince, R Telemachus.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WI) and Mark Benson (Eng)