Twenty-20 cricket carnival begins today

Sep 11: The mighty South Africans will take on West Indies sturdy challenge in the opening match of the inaugural ICC Twenty-20 World Cup at their home turf at the Wanderers in Johannesburg later tonight.

Graeme Smith, the South African captain might be in the tough time while coming across of shocking defeat from the hands of Windies team in the 2003 Cricket World Cup tournament held in Cape Town, which cost them a possible second round place.

The South African team must be in high confidence with their convincing eight wicket victory over title contender’s Australian side prior to the start of the tournament in their warm match which surely put them in good stead.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers told media after defeating Australia in the warm up match, “The result would certainly give the host a mental edge. It wasn’t just a warm up game. It’s a bit of a psychological advantage to beat the Aussies.”

On the other hand, Windies team will surely come out with the positive frame of mind after posting a 35-run win over formidable New Zealand. Though they struggled in their batting a bit early on, still they are pretty comfortable in their bowling department which is evident from the fiery spell delivered by Daren Powell capturing 3 wickets in his quota.

The slam bang version of the game might swing in anybody’s favour and could turn the table on opponent’s face at any point of time. Anyone can change the momentum of the game and the team which will play better on the given day will rule the roost. So an exciting match is in the offing.

History: Both the team has not played any match against each other.

South Africa Squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Gulam Bodi, Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Justin Kemp, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Vernon Philander, Shaun Pollock, Thandi Tshabalala, Johan van der Wath.

West Indies Squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Devon Smith, Marlon Samuels, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith, Ravi Rampaul, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Narsingh Deonarine, Pedro Collins.