A needle contest in the offing as New Zealand takes on South Afric

St.George's (Grenada), Apr 13 (UNI) A needle contest is in the offing as two title aspirants -- South Africa and New Zealand take on each other in their penultimate Super Eight league match of the Cricket World Cup at the National Stadium here tomorrow.

Both teams face each other after having recorded a big win and suffering a huge defeat respectively.

South Africa play their fifth super league game after chalking out an impressive 67-run win over the West Indies here on Tuesday.

Though they suffered a rude jolt prior to that, having lost to Bangladesh.

They have come back stronger and underlined their determination in no uncertain terms with their strong professional display against the hosts.

For New Zealand, a big defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka was nothing short of a huge shock. Having chalked out six wins in a row - including three in group stage, they were suddenly left looking vulnerable as their top order fell apart in the face of disciplined bowling from veterans Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.

The Kiwi total of 220/9, built almost entirely around Scott Styris, proved entirely inadequate despite Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori turning in probing spells.

In the process New Zealand's frailties were exposed, and that too on a pitch holding no terrors for the batsmen. Stephen Fleming fell early, the returning Ross Taylor aslo failed to disturb the scoreboard and had it not been for a 64-run eighth wicket partnership between Styris (111 not out) and James Franklin (25 not out), the Kiwis would not even have tallied 200 on the day.

Against the resurgent Proteas, it will be interesting to see whether New Zealand have that sort of resilience or not. It is more the ability of a team to bounce back and its will in question here.

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