Proteas fear Sri Lankan web

Just over two months after the South Africans quit Colombo on the night of August 16 after a bomb blast, leaving the tri-series in tatters

Just over two months after the South Africans quit Colombo on the night of August 16 after a bomb blast, leaving the tri-series in tatters, they will come up against the Lankans again tomorrow, at the Sardar Patel Stadium here. And interestingly enough, both teams will fight with their backs to the wall to stay on in the ICC Champions Trophy. The Lankans have had a win and a loss, while the South Africans are still looking for their first win.

While the Lankans may not have forgotten the mess the Proteas8217; departure created, South Africa too, will not have forgotten the 8216;chicken8217; tag given to them by the Islanders.

South African wicket-keeper Mark Boucher has already started the verbal duel by calling Tuesday8217;s encounter a 8216;grudge match8217;.

Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene, however, played down the intensity of the rivalry. 8220;Mark may call it whatever he wants. But we are looking at it just from the cricketing perspective. And it8217;s an important match for us to win to keep ourselves alive in the tournament. We are treating it as a quarter final,8221; said Jayawardene.

Jayawardene8217;s ease in composure is possibly because of the spin advantage that he enjoys over the Safs. That could be the only difference, with batting line-ups running deep in both teams. Weak that they are on the spin front, the South Africans have come with only one specialist spinner in the inexperienced Robin Peterson.

After Lankan spinners, Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya spun a web around Kiwi batsmen in their last match, sharing six wickets between them, it would be interesting to see how the Proteas handle them.

8220;I am sure we can counter their attack. We have the talent and skill to do it. We know how the Lankans play. So wait and watch,8221; said South African captain Graeme Smith.

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But Smith agreed that his side is short on a quality spinner, almost an essential prerequisite on sub-continent pitches. 8220;We would love to have a Murali or a Shane Warne on our side. But we have to do with whatever we have. I am sure Peterson will come good. Pace bowling is our strength, and it8217;s quite settled now. I am confident, our bowlers will do the job for us,8221; said Smith.

The only chink in the Lankan camp seems to be the lack of form of their top-order batsmen, save opener Upul Tharanga. Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayawardene have been among the runs in their last match, but there is more expected from the rest.

In the three matches Lanka have won till now including the qualifiers, Tharanga has scored two centuries and one half-century.

But Jayawardene refused to identify this as an area of concern. He said, 8220;I am happy as long as we win. It8217;s a team game. So anyone can play well. In the matches so far, Tharanga has played extremely well and other batsmen have built the innings around him. I am not worried about the form of our batsmen.8221;