Gibbs available for selection



Herschelle Gibbs had a successful fitness test on Saturday and will be available for selection for the Proteas' final Pool B match at the ICC Champions Trophy against England on Sunday.

Gibbs suffered a minor rib and intercostals injury during the warm-up match against the West Indies 10 days' ago and missed the first two Pool B matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

On Saturday he batted and ran without any discomfort and was also put through a testing programme of reflex catches and diving saves by physiotherapist Brandon Jackson.

"It went very well," commented Jackson, "and he will definitely be available for selection."

AB de Villiers, who played the key innings in their victory over New Zealand, said the Proteas would not be getting ahead of themselves against England and would concentrate on their basics and game plan rather than worrying about side issues such as the net run rate.

"The most important thing for us tomorrow is to win, to focus on our basics and to carry out our game plan well," commented De Villiers.

"We can't be worrying about run rates. The important thing for us is to win and to get to four points on the log. If we get to 40 overs and we are close to winning the game, then we will definitely up the tempo a bit.

"It is a massive game for us. We normally come off when the pressure is there and we need to win. The same thing happened at the 2007 World Cup when we had a ‘must win' game against England and we managed to do it then and pull through.

"Hopefully we will pitch up tomorrow with the same kind of mindset. Everybody is keen to get into the semis, so we are going to give it our best shot.

"We have had a good record against England in the past apart from last year's series in England but we will be treating them just like we would any other side in the tournament."

De Villiers added that England had played good cricket in their last few matches, particularly Friday's match against Sri Lanka, and that they were well suited to South African conditions.

"The Wanderers wicket suited them. In addition they have just come out of a tough series at home and managed to win the last one there where they had similar conditions. But they played extremely well against a very strong Sri Lankan side and deserved their win.

"It is going to be a tough group for us and I think it is going to come down to net run rate. "

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