Looking for its first major title since victory at the ICC Champions Trophy in Dhaka in 1998, South Africa has made a bright start to this year’s World Twenty. Starting well, however, has never been the problem. It has found the knockout stages of global events hard to navigate, and find itself in a tight Super Eights pool that includes Australia, India, the 2007 champion, and most likely Pakistan, the 2009 winner. “That’s a tough group,” admitted Albie Morkel, the all-rounder, before a training session on Tuesday afternoon. “India has played some fantastic cricket, Pakistan is playing great cricket. Australia came up with some big performances. I think it will be a very tough group to qualify from. “We have been playing in Hambantota. It looks like the wickets here are slower, and take a bit of turn. Our preparations are certainly going to be different from what we had in Hambantota where the wicket was a bit quicker, almost home conditions for us. We’ll focus on those scenarios. We are likely to face spinners in the Power Play and more of spin throughout the middle overs.”
