BLOEMFONTEIN, Feb 21: South Africa captain Shaun Pollock said on Friday that his team’s World Cup dream was still alive despite their roller-coaster start to the tournament.

Pollock conceded that the team had been despondent and all but expecting a first-round exit after losing two of their first three games.

But the mood changed when rivals West Indies dropped valuable points when one of their games was washed out.

“In a funny way it’s prepared us as best as possible,” he told reporters.

“We faced the exit door, we’ve been there and we know what the feeling’s like. So looking forward...there’s basically nothing to fear.

“The dream is still alive.

“The despondency in the squad was because our future in the tournament was out of our hands — we had to rely on someone else,” Pollock said.

“Now that it’s back in our hands the guys are far more upbeat about things.”—Reuters