South Africa have got the better of the West Indies ten times in a row now in one-day international cricket, and Darren Sammy’s men haven’t won a one-dayer against a Test-playing nation since June 2009. The Proteas are ranked an impressive fourth in the ICC one-day table while the Caribbeans bring up the rear, ninth and final among the current Test teams and struggling desperately to regain a semblance of the flair and character that made them the team to bit until the early ’90s.

Graeme Smith’s men have had a smooth run-up to their opening Group B encounter, having acclimatised beautifully to India in their two and a half weeks here. They bring with them the confidence of having won both their practice games convincingly, against Zimbabwe in Chennai and, more tellingly, against defending champions Australia in Bangalore. There is depth in batting, incisiveness in pace bowling and a rare balance in their spin attack, bolstered by the arrival of leggie Imran Tahir who, the Proteas believe, is quite the ace up their sleeve.

The West Indies’ preparations, by contrast, have been anything but clockwork. They did win their opening warm-up game against Kenya, but were outclassed by Sri Lanka in a high-scoring second game, also in Colombo.

It was during that tie that they lost the services of stylish opener Adrian Barath and wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh, both to hamstring injuries. Their recent record in the World Cup is little short of ordinary, their last semifinal appearance dating back to 1996.

Battle of equals? Certainly not. What, however, should make for a compelling day’s play at the Feroze Shah Kotla on Thursday is the dangerous unpredictability of the Caribbeans, a side so full of explosive if unrealised talent that could crush any opposition on its day.

South Africa are quite the method side, systematic planning and all eventualities covered. It isn’t as if there is no place for flamboyance within the set-up, but the South African unit is more about getting the job done, even if in ugly fashion, than putting on a show. The West Indies couldn’t be different.

The glory days of the Calypso Kings might be behind us, but few teams set the pulse racing like the maroon-clad men from the Caribbean. There is a certain swagger about them, a strut that might be inversely proportional to their performances on the field but that is nevertheless magnetic, that suggest an imminent explosion.

No team that possesses the brutal pyrotechnics of the laid-back Chris Gayle and the long-hitting Kieron Pollard, the experience and enterprise of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo, and the energy and promise of Darren Bravo can be taken lightly. South Africa must be quietly confident, given their recent successes against the West Indies, but Smith’s men will not be unaware of the immense potential for damage that lurks within those lithe, loose-limbed Caribbean warriors.

Smith has his own booming weapons, but they are more with the ball than the bat.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel form arguably the most potent fast-bowling combination in the World Cup, while Lonwabo Tsotsobe brings a different angle and that extra bounce that brings him most of his success. Throw in the canny off-spin of Johan Botha and the well-concealed leg-spin of the much-hyped Tahir, and the nucleus of a successful, versatile bowling attack is all too obvious.

International cricket’s return to the Kotla should therefore make for an attractive spectacle. Gayle’s bravado against Steyn’s fire, Sarwan’s wristiness against Tahir’s wristiness, and Kemar Roach’s industry against Hashim Amla’s composure are all mini-battles within a war that Jacques Kallis, all-rounder supreme, has likened this contest to.

The disgraced Kotla strip looks in reasonably good shape, though no one is quite sure exactly how it will pan out. Two Ranji Trophy games have been played here without incident, but this might not be the batting beauty locals are making it out to be. Consequently, teams could be force to re-assess their approach and rein in estimates, making for what could be a veritable game of cat and mouse.