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South African all-rounder Andrew Hall believes winning the World Cup would not be any easier for top teams even after the shock first round exit of two title contenders — Pakistan and India, writes Khalid Hussain.

“It is still not going to be easy to win the title. Out of the eight sides competing in this round, six teams can win the World Cup,” Hall told reporters on Tuesday ahead of South Africa opening Super Eight game against Sri Lanka today (Wednesday).

“So you have to be on your toes all the time and win the games which you have to win to reach the semifinal stage. Of course it has been made slightly easier because two top sides are not in the (Super Eight) round but still it’s going to a difficult road ahead,” he added.

Pakistan were knocked out of the Super Eight qualification race after a shock defeat to minnows Ireland while India failed to recover from a surprising loss against Bangladesh. Ireland and Bangladesh are the two teams in Super Eight who were unlikely to get there.

Defending champions Australia are hot favourites to retain the crown while South Africa are also being touted as the chief contenders. Also fancying their chances to lift the trop on April 28 in Barbados are Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and England.

Hall said that his team will have to quickly adapt to wet conditions in Guyana in the game against Sri Lanka. “You can’t do anything about the weather and that is the reason there is a reserve day. When you come for the game tomorrow you have to be ready and get

adapted to the conditions quickly. We hope the weather does not play a spoilsport,” he said.

Hall said that he and fellow South African bowlers would be looking to bowl in all the right areas against Sri Lanka. “One-day cricket is not about team’s getting out. It is about restricting your opponents. We work on plans to keep runs down. That has been our ploy for this tournament,” he said.

He said that South Africa are expecting a tough challenge from the Sri Lankans. “Sri Lanka have played really well to enter the Super Eights. It would be a tough challenge facing them, especially under conditions which seem to be suiting them a bit,” he explained. Hall said that the players would only know how the pitch would behave when they play the game. “It is a new pitch so we don’t know how it is going to play,” he added.
Source:The News

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