Stage set for Smith

South Africa have travelled too far and seen too much to be seduced into a false sense of security, but on the eve of their match against England here today, they privately recognised that their opponents have seldom been at a lower ebb.

This might all turn out to be irrelevant today, except for the fact that England are a team who appear to have depleted their physical reserves and exhausted their creativity after the recent Test and ODI demands of Australia. In three matches - against Ireland, the Netherlands and India - they've had 959 runs scored against them; their bowling attack is of the damp gunpowder variety and they are suffering from a plague of dropped catches that looks almost biblical in its sweep. They are surely there for the taking.

Though relaxed at yesterday's noon press conference, skipper Graeme Smith was making no windgat pronouncements. Indeed, the most interesting thing he said related to the fact that after Delhi and Mohali the dank, slightly fetid humidity of this seaside town was more like what he knows India to be.

"It's almost like being back in the real India now with the weather and the conditions," he said, just before he burst into laughter when an Indian journalist's cellphone emitted a ringtone that sounded like a bleating goat.

Smith added later that AB de Villiers's back problems were a thing of the past, and although he wouldn't discuss the final composition of the side, the most likely scenario is that Morné van Wyk will make way for Johan Botha, who didn't play in the victory over the Netherlands.

It is so hot here, in fact, that the MA Chidabaram stadium has been purposely built to encourage airflow into and through the ground. The original stadium was demolished a couple of years ago and in its place was built a cricket coliseum that comprises about 10 free-standing blocks or stands, some of them covered by suspended, gazebo-like white awnings of the kind found at Newlands or Lord's. Wind blows through the gaps between the stands, bringing some welcome respite to players and umpires out in the middle.

The new ground was inaugurated before the fifth ODI against New Zealand in December and the pitch has something of a reputation for being a bowlers' graveyard. Virender Sehwag scored a triple hundred against England here in 2008 and, given the pressures the powerplays will bring to bear on the quicker bowlers, the Proteas will surely flirt with the three-spinner option even if they don't actually decide to play Imran Tahir, Botha and Robin Peterson.

For those journalists of the Sherlock Holmes variety, Smith provided a slight clue when he admitted that Tahir, who took four for 41 against the West Indies and three wickets against the Netherlands, had provided the variation Proteas sides have often lacked.

"He's given us momentum through the middle overs," said the skipper of the naturalised leggie. What Tahir has done is that his priceless wicket-taking ability has disrupted opponents' rhythm. The Proteas would be foolish to leave him out, despite England players knowing him and his bag of tricks better than most given his journeys through county cricket.

While a spin-heavy attack buttressed with the pace of Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel's bounce (a relative term here in India) looks to be the way to go, there are some quibbles about the batting and fielding.

Smith looks a little out of nick, although he professed to "feeling pretty solid". His record against England is good, although not as good in ODIs as Tests. Still, Smith likes the grand occasion upon which to make a statement, and there won't be many bigger stages left in his career as captain.

If one is being hypercritical, then we should also look at Jacques Kallis's form. He made inroads into the Netherlands' batting but scores of four and two surely aren't how he would have liked to have impose himself on the tournament.

Still, it's nice to know that Kallis hasn't completely lost his usually well-hidden sense of humour. "I'm just glad it didn't hit him on the head," he said of Morkel's dropping a sitter off him in the game against the Dutch. "Every cloud has a silver lining, though, and because of it he owes me two of the finest bottles of Cape wine."