Group B (with New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada)

Strengths: Apart from home advantage, South Africa have trump cards in all key areas — Herschelle Gibbs is a free-scoring opener, Shaun Pollock niggardly with the new ball and Jacques Kallis the best all rounder in the world. No side will be sharper in the field either, with Jonty Rhodes unsurpassed in the covers.

Weaknesses: South Africa have regularly come off second best against arch-rivals Australia. How they handle the world champions will be key to their chances. Places in the middle order were still unsettled only weeks before the tournament. Fears also persist in some quarters that selection will be a political point-scoring exercise as cricket continues to make its peace with a democratic society.

Key player: Kallis. Few players deserve the tag of genuine all rounder — a player good enough to play either as a specialist batsman or specialist bowler — but this man certainly does. He averages 44 in one-dayers and has taken 164 wickets at just under 30.

One-day form: Beat Australia and New Zealand in a triangular in Australia in 2001 but were promptly thrashed on home soil by the Australians. Have also suffered serious reverses to Sri Lanka (in Morocco) and India (at the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka) but home form remains good, with recent series victories over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Past World Cup performances: Beaten by England in a controversial rain-affected semifinal in 1992 before making a quarterfinal exit at the hands of West Indies four years later. Those losses pale by comparison with the semifinal against Australia at Edgbaston in 1999 which handed the Australians a place in the final.

Prediction: Finalists.—Reuters