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New Delhi: South African skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and decided to field first against West Indies in their World Cup Group-B opener at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium on Thursday.
Desperate to shed the tag of chokers which has haunted them for long, South Africa will be keen to launch their World Cup campaign on a positive note.
The Proteas have never won the World Cup and Graeme Smith's men will undoubtedly leave no stone unturned to lay their hands on the coveted trophy.
South Africa have never reached a final of the megaevent, having been the losing semifinalist in 1992, 1999 and 2007, and their tendency to choke in crunch situations has compounded their misery.
But with a relatively young team and 11 members who are featuring in the World Cup for the first time, the South Africans reckon they will be able to break the jinx this time around.
Leggie Imran Tahir handed debut by South Africa in this match. Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and Imran Tahir are shouldering the spin bowling responsibility.
The West Indies, on the other hand, are in a transition phase but the team has enough potential to upset any fancied side on its day.
Both the teams are in a positive frame of mind ahead of their lung-opener at the Kotla which is staging its first international match since December 2009 when a one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to a "dangerous" pitch.
Since then, much effort has gone into relaying the pitch under the supervision of ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson and nobody has a clue as to how the track will behave.
The hard-hitting Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo and Dwayne Bravo are exciting cricketers and will need to play to their potential to keep the West Indies in the reckoning.
