Proteas to leave out Abbott, Philander or Tahir?

With captain AB de Villiers confirming a clean bill of health ahead of tomorrow’s all-important semi-final against co-hosts New Zealand, the captain and selectors must now decide on their best 11 for Auckland clash.

While many might be quick to say, “Just go with the same team that demolished Sri Lanka”, it’s not that simple.

For one, the 11 that beat the Lankans in Sydney are the same 11 that struggled against Pakistan… in Auckland.

Yes, maybe they had an off day, but conditions at the SCG are different to that at Eden Park, and stats from this world cup confirm it.

Auckland has been more favourable to faster bowlers.

From the three matches played in New Zealand’s largest city, quicks have accounted for 43 of the 49 wickets to fall there.

Spinners haven’t had a great time at the venue claiming four, with only medium pacers and part-timers performing worse.

While Vernon Philander didn’t play at the venue due to injury, his replacement Kyle Abbott sent Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood back to the hut although in a losing cause.

Morne Morkel also got two, and Dale Steyn had his better performances at this world cup, finishing with three, but the two super spinners from Sydney, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy, finished with one between them.

So with Philander fit to play, does he replace Abbott or, just maybe, do we go with four pacers and Duminy at the expense of Tahir?

This would be a big call, and not likely to happen, but if stats from Auckland are anything to go by, four seamers could be the best chance South Africa have to booking a first appearance at a final.

Wickets in Auckland by quicks (43) V others (6)

Australia 8 & 1: (Mitchell Starc 6, Pat Cummins 2, v  (Glen Maxwell 1)

New Zealand 7 & 3: (Trent Boult 5, Tim Southee 2) v  (Daniel Vettori 2, Corey Anderson 1)

India 9 & 1: (Mohammed Shami 3, Umesh Yadav 3, Mohit Sharma 3) v  (Ravi Ashwin 1)

Pakistan 10 & 0: (Mohammad Irfan 3, Wahab Riaz 3, Rahat Ali 3, Sohail Khan 1 

South Africa 7 & 2: (Dale Steyn 3, Kyle Abbott 2, Morne Morkel 2) v (Imran Tahir 1, AB de Villiers 1)

Zimbabwe 2 & 1: (Tinashe Panyangara 2) v 1: (Sikandar Raza 1)

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