First look: South Africa

South Africa announced their 15 in a bid to make it beyond the WC semi-finals for the first time. Since re-admission, WC'92 was SA's best performance until they were undone by the rain-rule in that tournament. Always a competitive and strong side, this SA squad have very experienced cricketers but there are some relatively new faces as well.

A look at the squad ....

With 8 players with previous WC experience, SA have resources for most situations in their squad. In De Kock, Rossouw and Behardien, they have fresh batting talent to support the stalwarts like Amla and De Villiers. Dale Steyn will lead a pace-dominated attack but they will dearly miss the all-round services of Kallis that they have so gotten used to in previous WCs.

Strengths -

Fast Bowling is this team's biggest strength. In Steyn, Morkel and Philander, they've the finest attack which will be supported by Abbot/Parnell. Tahir is the first choice spinner but Phangiso may get his chance at some point in the tournament. In AB De Villiers, they have probably the best limited-overs batsman in the world with Amla providing stability at the top. De Kock, Du Plessis and Miller have all showed spark in opportunities so far. Duminy will be very useful as the all-rounder.

Weaknesses - 

There are not many chinks in the armor but if anything the spin attack is not as potent. Tahir will have to provide the wicket-taking option in the middle overs but I don't see this as a big issue. Over-reliance on AB De Villiers in later stages of batting has often led to their downfall recently and he would be hoping that Duminy and Miller can stand up at crucial points. The team lacks the all-rounders that SA teams have possessed in the past.

Prediction - SA are one of the top two favorites in the WC. I think they will top the Group B but will have to deal with the knock out pressure games better than they have before. The team has all the talent to reach their first finals in a World Cup tournament.