Last chance for West Indies, South Africa battle for survival

For hosts West Indies, it is going to be their last chance to keep their hopes alive while for South Africa it is battle for survival as the two teams lock horns in the crunch Super Eight league match of the cricket World Cup here tomorrow.

The hosts got a virtual lifeline when Bangladesh surprised mighty South Africa and now the hosts will be hoping to swing their wayward World Cup campaign back on track.

West Indies have lost their first three matches of the Super Eight league but with a nine-day break behind them, the home side will now have a chance to put it across unsettled South Africans.

Bangladesh's shock win over the Proteas has not only thrown the qualifying race for the semi-finals wide open but have also emoralised Graeme Smith's men badly.

And if there are no further upsets -- three teams are in the fray for what should be one remaining semi-final berth.

England did themselves in by going down tamely to Australia in Antigua yesterday and now the last slot for the semi-finals could be down to either of these two teams in action here tomorrow.

The West Indies have been under tremendous fire from former players and the public but the team received a big support from two legends of the game. Sir Garry Sobers and Sir Everton Weekes have come out strongly for Brian Lara's side and described the captain as being the best available at the moment to do the job.

After a long break, the hosts are hoping to put their traumatic opening week of the Super Eights behind. In contrast for South Africa, it is going to be an Herculean task to overcome the shock of losing to the so called minnows and not surprisingly skipper Smith was a shaken man after the defeat.

''We lost two points we were banking on but the opportunity still lies in our hands to go forward in the World Cup. There are three big games ahead of us and it's important that we regroup and move forward to the West Indies game.

''We need to get a fresh environment that supplies a bit more energy but the main thing is to discuss where we went wrong and how we're going to tackle the games ahead,'' he added.

West Indies have been let down by their top order in the Super Eights, and Chris Gayle and Lara in particular will be keen to get among the runs.

They know the Tigers have thrown them a lifeline in this tournament and they must make the most of it. After this game, the Windies play Bangladesh and finally England, at Barbados on April 21, which could well turn out to be their big game.

For the moment though, all attention is on the National Stadium and tomorrow's proceedings on a pitch that has tended to favour teams batting first. Smith, for one, will not want a repeat of his Guyana experiment when he gave the Tigers first strike, and spent the rest of the day repenting that generosity.

Teams: West Indies (From): Brian Lara (Capt), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (WK), Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor South Africa (From): Graeme Smith (Capt), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher (WK), AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Roger Telemachus Field Umpires: Mark Benson, Daryl Harper Third Umpire: Aleem Dar Fourth Umpire: Asad Rauf Match Referee: Chris Broad UNI HSB PDS BST1458

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