WC team preview: Can South Africa overcome business-end blues?

The 2015 ICC World Cup is being seen as South Africa's best chance to cast off their long-stuck "chokers" tag. They reached the semi-finals in 1992, 1999 and 2007 and the quarter-finals in 1996 and 2011 but despite having mostly been the favourites, they failed to deal the coup de grace. On paper, like always, South Africa boast a very strong team under AB de Villiers, and if they play together as a unit they can go all the way.

Group: Pool B

Captain: AB de Villiers

Strengths

South Africa look daunting in all departments but it's the batting that sets them apart. The presence of de Villiers, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis and David Miller makes them a batting line-up to die for. De Villiers and Amla, the fastest player to reach 5,000 ODI runs, average over 50, while the other three are much better batsmen than they were a year ago or so. In the bowling department, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir keep South Africa's flag high. Steyn and Tahir critical wicket-takers while Morkel could be handy on bouncy pitches. Throw in Vernon Philander's busy seam bowling and Kyle Abbott's specialty as a late-overs bowler, and this attack carries plenty of weight.

Weaknesses

Their inability to finish off close matches. Also, they have to improve their batting against spin, especially on slow pitches. The pitches in Australia and New Zealand mostly have true bounce but Adelaide Oval and the Sydney Cricket Ground have a history of supporting slow bowlers. Considering that these venues will host the first and third quarter-final matches, South Africa have reasons to worry.

X-factor

It has to be de Villiers. The South Africa captain is undoubtedly the best batsman in the world as far as limited-overs cricket goes. His recent 31-ball century against West Indies - the fastest by any player in ODI history - is testimony to his devastating batting skills. In a wonderful career, a World Cup trophy is the one thing he hasn't laid his hands on. A career bereft of a World Cup win is an incomplete one, and de Villiers must be looking at this edition with great expectations to strengthen his legacy.

Dark horse

Tahir made his ODI debut in last World Cup co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and returned 4 for 41 in his first game against West Indies. The legspinner is a captain's dream. At heart, he is an aggressive bowler but that doesn't mean he is prone to bowling loose balls. His economy rate of 4.41 suggests he is always on a batsman's case.

ODI from guide (last six months)

Beat Australia to win a tri-series in Zimbabwe

v New Zealand: Won 2-0 (away)

v Australia: Lost 4-1 (away)

What they did in the 2011 World Cup:

South Africa topped Group B, beating eventual champions India, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands. The only blemish for them in the group stage came when they lost to England chasing 172 to win in Chennai. In the quarter-final against New Zealand, in pursuit of 222, South Africa were favourites to take the match at 108 for 2 when a collapse saw them bowled out for 172.

Squad

AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn

Fixtures

Vs Zimbabwe, Feb 15 at Hamilton

Vs India, Feb 22 at the MCG

Vs West Indies, Feb 27 at the SCG

Vs Ireland, Mar 3 at Canberra

Vs Pakistan, Mar 7 at Auckland

Vs UAE, Mar 12 at Wellington