Aussies favourites, India dark horses

South Africa

It has been all summer for Graeme Smith’s well-oiled pace bowling arsenal.

Fasten it with Jacques Kallis, Andre Hall and Shaun Pollock, who can double up with both wood and cherry, and you are leading a special side.

Add to the lot a live-wire fielding unit, and you have a team that has all the bases covered.

Brick it up with the likes of Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp, who can clear the ropes with alarming regularity, and you are best placed to kiss the most-coveted crown in the game.

Mushroomed into the number one slot after two outstanding series against India and Pakistan, South Africa has had the form tables with them.

Their only weakness, if any, is lack of a quality spinner to offset docile tracks. But a pronounced question mark prevails over their mental toughness. The batting is prone to getting edgy at the big stage. Till the time they topple the heavyweights and get into the final, the chokers tag will continue to haunt them.