Title battle gets tough in the ‘group of death’

Four top contenders for the World Twenty20 title resume battle on Friday, looking for ways to emerge unscathed from the tougher of the two groups in the Super Eights round. Top-ranked South Africa take on Pakistan and India clash with Australia in a sold-out double-header at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo to launch the opening skirmishes in group two. All four teams showed their prowess by winning both matches in the preliminary league and now face a fight to finish to book two semi-final spots from the group. “It is a tough group,” South African captain AB de Villiers said on Thursday. “Any of the sides can beat each other on any given day, so it is going to be a great challenge. “But if we play good cricket, we will be difficult to stop. We have prepared well for this tournament, to the extent that we are ready for even the Super Over if that becomes necessary. The Super Over — where teams scoring more runs in six balls from an opposition bowler win — comes into play if a match is tied. The South African captain’s main worry ahead of Friday’s clash against Pakistan was how his team will cope against prolific off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. Asked if his batsmen had been able to understand Ajmal’s action, de Villiers said: “Not really but there are not many batsmen who can read Ajmal. “We have studied him closely and analysed his action. The important thing will be to watch the ball closely.”