Cronje was all praise for his batsmen, especially Lance Klusener, for fashioning a facile win over Australia in S'Africa's last league tie, at Guwahati on Friday.
``The two primary reasons behind the victory are good batting by the batsmen and the wicket behaving well,'' Cronje said. ``I have been slightly apprehensive about the wicket,but it has behaved better than the last match we played here.''
He,however,admitted that fielding of his side was not up to the mark in this last game. ``We have to work a little harder on the fielding for the final,'' Cronje said, mentioning the dropped catches in the Australian innings.
The South African captain also admitted that Australian total of 240 was a challenging one, but the first 20 overs of batting changed the complexion in their favour.
Hero of the match Lance Klusener, who was promoted in the batting order for some pinch hitting, said he was very happy about the innings. ``My idea is to hit for the first 15 overs and if you remain on the wicket after that, you can play the normal game. I have just followed the instruction.''
Man of the match Pat Symcox, however, did not hesitate to express his surprise over being selected for the award.
``I don't quite know why I was picked,'' the burly spinner smiled, echoing the mystification in many minds.
Australian captain Mark Taylor, who meanwhile has been having a poor run in the past few weeks in India, admitted that the match had gone out of their hands in the first 20 overs itself.
``We have not bowled well this time, and the score of 239 became insufficient. Lance Klusener especially batted well and hit the ball very clean to take the match away from us,'' Taylor said.
Regarding their crucial match against India at Mohali on Sunday, Taylor said ``It is the semifinal. We may not deserve to be in the final but if we can reach the final with a win on Sunday, there is always a fifty fifty chance to win the Titan Cup.''
Taylor defended the team's field- ing, but reiterated that the bowlers did not rise to the occasion to defend the total. ``The South Africans have once again played well in the first 15 overs and taken away the match. They smashed as many as 14 boundaries in the first 20 overs, and both Andrew Hudson and Lance Klusener played controlled innings,'' Taylor added.
``We havenot played well in the our four matches, but I am quite optimistic about the Mohali match. There will be some changes in the strategy as well as in the team for the match against India. Both Mark Waugh and Ian Healy are recovering from their injuries, which gives us more options,'' said Taylor.
About his constant opting for batting first, Taylor said, ``Maybe I am an old fashioned captain who loves to set a target and then apply pressure. Especially on this last wicket at Guwahati, there was no difference in batting second as it behaved consistently throughout.''