‘No team can beat us at home’

Steyn does not give the Sri Lankan team — considered dangerous outsiders in the race for the two-million-dollar first prize — much hope of causing an upset in the day-night fixture. “They have not been here for a long time apart from those players who came for the IPL and that was during winter,when the ball was not doing a lot and it was T20 cricket.”

South Africa crave success in the Champions Trophy to confirm what the rankings have been saying for some time — that they are a class act when it comes to the 50-overs game. The least expected of Smith and his squad is that they qualify for the October 5 final.

Sri Lanka are good enough to lift the trophy even if it is title holders Australia,South Africa and India who are most commonly mentioned as likely winners. Muttiah Muralitharan needs no introduction and fast medium-pacer Nuwan Kulasekara sat atop the world bowling rankings last week with his leading wicket taking team mate at sixth. However,batting could be the Achilles heel for Sri Lanka with former skipper Mahela Jayawardene conceding they have been “patchy and inconsistent” in that department at the ODI level.

Minus the injured Herschelle Gibbs,the Proteas still boast a formidable array of batsmen with Smith,veteran Jacques Kallis,AB de Villiers and JP Duminy in the vanguard. Add the pace and swing of Steyn,Wayne Parnell and Kallis and the spin of Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe — who captured four wickets in a warm-up win over the West Indies — and there are solid foundations for a successful run.