South Africa ready for exams, says Kallis

It will be yet another test of nerves when South Africa take on New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-final on Friday but all-rounder Jacques Kallis says his team is not nervous ahead of the big day.

“I’ve always seen this part of the tournament as an exam,” Kallis was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.com on Wednesday.

“If you’ve prepared well and done the hard work, you just have to go and write the test. If you’re underprepared, that’s when you start getting nervous.”

Kallis said his team no longer relied on individuals to win matches unlike in the past when there was too much dependence on players like Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock.

“Everyone has contributed, whereas in the past we’ve had to rely on one or two players,” he said.

“Everyone in the squad seems to be in good form.

It also hasn’t only been 11 guys that have played their part, as we’ve seen in the last few games. The guys coming in have performed well, which is fantastic.”

Kallis said his team did not need to do anything extraordinary in the knockout round, having reached the quarter-finals with five wins in six league games.

“We have to just keep doing the things that we did in the group stage, where we played some unbelievable cricket,” he said. “There’s no reason to change anything.”

Kallis said they had a dangerous opponent in New Zealand.

“They bat deep and have plenty of all-rounders. It won’t be game over, even if we get early wickets, and it’s crucial that we stay on top of our game for 300 balls and ensure that we pounce at the slightest show of weakness.”—AFP