World Cup Diary: De Villiers' delusion of grandeur

Ed Hawkins
13 March 2015

De Villiers says his side are the best in the tournament

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Ed Hawkins returns with his weekly look at the tournament down under and reckons South Africa are showing signs of panic while the Irish are underrated again...

"The Adelaide wicket seems a sporty affair, helping bats and bowlers alike, although, perhaps pivotally, there will be little spin so Shahid Afridi's threat is negated somewhat."

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Back Ireland to beat Pakistan at 4.47/2

Last week we criticised England's players for talking delusional gibberish and asked the question whether it betrayed a chronic lack of self-belief. We got our answer.

So has the curse of an inflated sense of self-worth struck again? AB De Villiers, the South Africa captain, appears to have it in spades.

"I 100% believe we are the best team in the tournament here," de Villiers said. The best team in the tournament? South Africa are not even the best team in their pool.

Despite powerful displays against the minnows, which looked to have reinforced their fear factor among the big eight sides after a surprise defeat by India, they promptly lost to Pakistan. Don't worry, though, De Villiers had a response for that.

"Those two losses in the group stage did hurt us a bit but we are past that now. We know where we could have won those games and we weren't that far off. We know we are very close...three games away from taking that World Cup home. The most important game is tomorrow but we know we are not far off so it's important to be positive and still believe we are the best."

What De Villiers, or any South African, does not have an answer for is: why have you failed to even adequately replace Jacques Kallis?

If South Africa don't win this World Cup, and it is looking increasingly likely they won't give the form of Australia, New Zealand and India, it will probably be because they have been batting Dale Steyn at No 8.

That is far too high and exposes their lack of balance. The No 8 position is where an all-rounder bats. True, he may primarily be a bowler but he should be capable of scoring 20-30 quickly to finish a game and boast a decent record in every format.

Steyn, in ODI, is a genuine No 11. His stats prove it. He doesn't average more than 14.6 in any format. He has never scored a first-class century. Compare that to the other No 8s. Australia have Brad Haddin (four Test centuries), New Zealand Dan Vettori (six), India Ravi Ashwin (two) and Sri Lanka Thisara Perrera (one first-class century).

Chasing 223, as South Africa did against Pakistan, who would you rather have coming in at No 8? Steyn or a player of the ilk above? It's a no brainer and the reason why South Africa lost the game. If De Villiers knew he had a batsman with him, he wouldn't have had to take such risks.

Against the UAE, South Africa had Vernon Philander batting at No 8 and they looked a little better balanced. Philander, for the record, has two first-class centuries. Farhaan Behardien, who has actually done okay in the all-rounder role, was also back. Perhaps that's why De Villiers suddenly felt so confident.

England must play in IPL

The excoriating analysis of England's World Cup nightmare started in earnest after their insipid defeat by Bangladesh. So stop me if you've heard it before, although I'm not sure the importance of playing IPL has been mentioned that much.

The IPL has many ills. One of them, however, is not that it doesn't improve players. Would AB De Villiers, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and any Indian batsman you care to mention be as destructive without it?

Of course not. The IPL encourages free, attacking spirits, variation and inventiveness with bat or ball. It is crucial in the case with the ball, actually, as bowlers cannot rely on doing the same thing every delivery. England possessed none of these qualities.

It is no coincidence that Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan (up until a disastrous batting effort in the tournament) are comfortably England's most inventive batsmen. They have oodles of IPL experience. It could also be argued that because of their ability to switch hit for six, they are the best ODI batsmen England have ever produced. I know, I know, they're South African and Irish but you understand my point.

It was no coincidence, either, that when England's players did appear in reasonable numbers (seven) in the IPL they won the World T20 the same year with five of them in the squad.

If England have learned anything, it is not to rip up best-laid plans and start again before a major series. The sacking of Alastair Cook doesn't look so bright now. To that end, the even money about Peter Moores being coach for the first Ashes Test looks a sound wager, particularly as he has already been told his job is safe by Paul Downton (to view the betting click here, the market is under the General tab).

Shock spotting

Many punters would have had their eye on this one for a while: Pakistan v Ireland in Adelaide. Ireland need only a point to qualify while Pakistan are not home and hosed yet.

Thanks to their surprising win over South Africa, Pakistan are in the box seat but if they were to lose to the Irish, they would be sweating on run rate calculations with West Indies capable of grabbing the last spot with a big win over the UAE.

Ireland are 4.47/2 for victory with Pakistan 1.271/4. It has the makings of a classic contest because of the respective weaknesses of the two sides. Pakistan's batting is weak and Ireland's bowling isn't up to much.

It would make sense, given that fact, to reckon Pakistan would win but do you really have faith in them at those odds? Besides, Ireland's batting has been so impressive that they would back themselves to chase anything up to 300.

The Adelaide wicket seems a sporty affair, helping bats and bowlers alike, although, perhaps pivotally, there will be little spin so Shahid Afridi's threat is negated somewhat.

Trend spotting

Bangladesh's victory over England seemed inevitable when you consider that they batted first. The chasers are still struggling, although New Zealand's win against the Banglas was impressive. It's 21 from 36 results for those who bat first as bat continues to dominate ball. Backing 300 or more in the first dig has paid 20 times now.

Matches won by side batting first: 21/36
Average first-innings score: 286