Cricket: Spin could be the deciding factor

Rob Nicol is one of four spin options for the Black Caps. Photo / Getty Images

South African skipper AB de Villiers doesn't believe his men have any problem playing spin bowling, which is lucky considering New Zealand's Twenty20 side is full of tweakers.

On the eve of the first hit-and-giggle encounter between the teams at Westpac Stadium tonight, de Villiers said he had no concerns regarding his side's ability to play slow bowling, despite them being exposed by the turning ball by Canterbury in their tour match on Wednesday.

During the tour game - which the South Africans won by 20 runs - the home side wheeled down nine overs of spin from George Worker, Tim Johnston and Henry Nicholls that only conceded 52 runs and yielded four wickets.

"We didn't play it well [on Wednesday]," de Villiers said. "I really believe that we play spin exceptionally well. We've proved that over a long period of time now. The boundaries are quite short here, if a spinner gets it wrong he's going to go. We've just go to stick to our game plans, make sure we've got out strategies in place and each guy I believe has that in place ... I honestly don't believe there's anything wrong with our spin bowling techniques."

New Zealand have named four spinners in their 12 for tonight's game and the quartet of Rob Nicol, Roneel Hira, Kane Williamson and Nathan McCullum will be eager to get on the park in Wellington.

Kiwi stand-in skipper Brendon McCullum, who is still in charge with Ross Taylor on the sidelines, said all four twirlers could play if the conditions allowed.

"I think we've got a nice balance between our seam bowlers and our spinners," McCullum said.

"In the past we've probably operated with a few ... a little bit more fiddly-type of bowlers rather than specialists, so that's one of the things we do possess in this unit is legitimate spin bowling and legitimate seam bowling. So I guess we do have some cover in both those areas."

One man the home side will have to be wary of is the hard-hitting South African opener Richard Levi.

The 24-year-old is likely to make his international debut in tomorrow's game and the right-hander plundered the Cantabrian attack to all corners of Hagley Oval on Wednesday on his way to a 32-ball 63, which included five sixes.

McCullum admitted he hadn't seen a lot of the Western Province player, who averages 29.7 from 32 Twenty20 matches and has an impressive strike rate of 143.17.

"I've heard a bit about him and his ability. Obviously he possesses immense power and some pretty carefree play as well," McCullum said.

"So we've got to be pretty mindful of that. We've got to try and put him under early pressure and hopefully we can take some early wickets against them to negate that power that they do possess and especially playing up front."

Tonight's game is the first of three Twenty20 internationals between the sides, followed by as many one-day games then test matches.

Jacob Oram and Michael Bates have been left out of the 12 for the game, with Oram still battling a calf injury.

McCullum said a call would be made on who would carry the drinks once the pitch had been assessed, but the likely candidates appeared to be Hira, Andy Ellis or Colin de Grandhomme.

Schedule for South Africa's cricket tour of New Zealand:
Feb 17: 1st T20, Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Feb 19: 2nd T20, Seddon Park, Hamilton
Feb 22: 3rd T20, Eden Park, Auckland
Feb 25: 1st ODI, Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Feb 29: 2nd ODI, McLean Park, Napier
March 3: 3rd ODI, Eden Park, Auckland
March 7-11: 1st test, University Oval, Dunedin
March 15-19: 2nd test, Seddon Park, Hamilton
March 23-27: 3rd test, Basin Reserve, Wellington