“Herschelle is working furiously on different shots which he hasn’t unveiled yet. He doesn’t want to be upstaged by Dilshan,” The Sun quoted Arthur, as saying.

Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Younis Khan has called on his batsmen to match the form of his bowling attack on Thursday.

He said: “Against New Zealand and Ireland, we fell short by 20 to 25 runs. The batsmen have to support the bowlers if we are to win this cup.”

Sri Lanka had struggled to 109/9 after being reduced to 44 for 7 at one stage with Angelo Mathews (28) and Nuwan Kulasekera (24) rallying in the closing over with valuable late runs.

Dale Steyn, who removed both openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya, Jacques Kallis and Johan Botha all collected two wickets each.

South Africa reached their target with five balls to spare thanks to Gibbs and AB de Villiers (32) who put on 70 for the third wicket.

Sri Lanka were let down by poor fielding with Gibbs dropped twice.

On that note, they take guard at the second ever World Twenty20 event in England, holding in mind the two most important aspects they need to cover. First, Smith has to forget the 37-run loss against India in 2007 at Durban which alone resulted in SA being ousted from the inaugural tournament. Second, frayed nerves in crucial encounters won’t work as they’ve experienced time and again.

In short, they need to begin on a fresh note. If South Africa can do that, they probably have one of the most feared arsenals at their disposal – seven all-rounders, one of the most feared wicket-keeper-batsman known for his chasing skills and three world class fastest bowlers.

The seven all-rounders are definitely the key to South Africa’s fortunes but among them, Albie Morkel is the name to watch out for. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says “Albie is one cricketer I’d love to have in my team.’’ That says a lot about the 27-year-old who – in-form – can be the most dangerous customer in cricket’s most fickle format.

There’s Albie’s brother Morne too who impressed in 2007. JP Duminy is next on the list of who’s who, ending the IPL as one of the most successful players and the likes of AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs who add meat top of the order.

SQUAD:
Graeme Smith (Captain), Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Jaccques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Yusuf Abdullah, Roelof van der Merwe, JP Duminy, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson.

Key Players

Albie Morkel: Among the best all-rounders in the world, almost all teams will be looking to target this 27-year-old. Morkel has the unique ability to bat well against the new ball and the old ball and the same can be said about his bowling strengths.

Herschelle Gibbs: A transformed cricketer, Gibbs is now back to his best. When in form, the right-hand opener can be devastating and if he gets going in England, SA can have a blast.

JP Duminy: If recent form is any indication, Duminy can be termed as South Africa’s most reliable batsman. With four half-centuries for Mumbai Indians, he led the way for them in IPL and surely the opponents will keeping track of this left-hander.