By IANS,
Kolkata : Ireland’s key all-rounder Andre Botha now considers India and South Africa as the favourites to win the cricket World Cup.
As his side gears up to face the formidable South Africans at the Eden Gardens Tuesday, the 35-year-old veteran is hoping against hope that the rigours of the India match and the long travel thereafter will prompt Graeme Smith’s side to take it easy against the Irish.
“Obviously it’s a big win for them. So hopefully they might relax a bit due to the stress of travelling here after a big win and that will give us a big advantage,” he said in a lighter vein.
In a thriller at Nagpur Saturday, South Africa pipped India by three wickets with only two balls to spare.
“India and South Africa probably are the two favourites at the moment to win the World Cup,” Botha told mediapersons here at the Eden Gardens, where his team would play their remaining two Group B games.
Ireland wrap up their group engagements opposite the Netherlands Friday. With only two points in their kitty from four outings, Ireland need to win both these ties to keep alive their fading chances of making it to the quarterfinals.
And Botha, whose extraordinary figures of 2/5 in eight overs at the 2007 Cricket World Cup played a crucial role in fashioning their shocking victory over Pakistan, is only too aware of the tough challenge that lies ahead Tuesday.
“It’s going to be just as big as the Indian game,” said the South African born player.
“Obviously they are one of the best teams in the world at the moment. .. So to play them, obviously everytime you walk out against them can be very special,” he said.
Botha adroitly side-stepped a query on whether his team has spotted weaknesses in the South African side. “We are going to have a team meeting this afternoon. I’ll let you know after that,” he signed off.