Graeme Smith

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC:

SOUTH AFRICA'S captain, Graeme Smith, said on Friday he would not get carried away with his side's recent elevation to No. 1 in the International Cricket Council's One-Day International rankings.

"I don't really read much into these things. Of course it is nice to be rated the number one team, but I concentrate more on delivering on the field of play," Smith said.

"I am hoping to have a good World Cup and together with the other senior players, I will be looking to do my part in order to make my team successful."

South Africa start their World Cup campaign tomorrow when they clash with Ireland in an official warm-up match. They face Pakistan in a more testing fixture on Friday.

The matches will be the final part of the team's preparation before they fly to St Kitts to take on Australia, Scotland and the Netherlands in Group A, preliminary round matches.

A cautious approach

Coach Mickey Arthur, like many of his counterparts, adopted a cautious approach to South Africa's chances, noting that the tournament remained open.

"This World Cup is very open and the team that plays better on the day can win the World Cup," he said. "There are six teams in my opinion that can win and they are, of course, South Africa, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka."

South Africa are looking to compensate for their first round exit in the last World Cup which theyhosted in 2003.

After a day off on Friday, the team trained yesterday at the Frank Worrell Ground at the UWI St Augustine campus.