A battle of wits and wills is predicted for Tuesday's opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy between Sri Lanka and South Africa at SuperSport Park.
While Kumar Sangakkara admits his side have a "pretty set plan", Graeme Smith is also aware of not straying far from the strategy that has made his side the No.1 team in the world heading into the tournament.
So, reacting to the opposition's methods is not on the cards as both teams, who boasted on Monday about the variety and balance in their respective bowling attacks, rather seek to impose their strategies on the other in today's game.
"We are not really worried about what the opposition is going to do. We know South Africa is a good side," remarked Sangakkara.
"We have beaten them in a World Cup match in South Africa. We've beaten them comprehensively in the subcontinent, especially in the past few tours that they've been there.
"Having gained confidence from that and knowing who the players are and what they can do, it's no use worrying what's coming at us. We've got to really think about what we are going to do and hopefully get the opposition reacting to us."
Smith expressed similar sentiments. "We have to play our game. The crucial thing about playing any other team is to not get drawn into playing the style or the way the other team plays.
"The key for us is to play our brand of cricket the way we have played for the last period of time and hopefully take that and play it better than Sri Lanka plays theirs tomorrow," said the SA captain.
As simple as it is for the two captains to say what they want to see happen, so it will be hard for the players to actually implement the respective strategies.
Both teams contain world-class individuals and there are eerie similarities in how the two attacks shape up. There are good fast bowlers in both sides, though in Dale Steyn, South Africa probably have the best paceman on the park.
The same goes for the spinners, though in Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka hold the ace.
Sangakkara feels this is the best set of fast bowlers Sri Lanka have had in some time, and blending them with the spin of Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, gives their attack greater balance than it has had any time.
"We've got one of the best spinners to ever play the game in Muralitharan and then Ajantha Mendis is one of the best spinners to come out lately and hopefully both of them will get a run. We've got good fast bowlers bowling regularly at 140km/h-plus and we've got all-rounders as well."
There is certainly enough to give Sangakkara confidence.
"This is a very important tournament and we are coming here to try and win it. But to do that, you've got to do the processes right at training, and we have gone a long way towards doing that.
"We've got batsmen in form, we've got bowlers really firing well. It's an exciting time for us. We've just got to convert that into match-winning performances."
Though South Africa have had no serious cricket lately, Smith believes his side will quickly find their rhythm.
"It's our first real challenge in three months, to walk straight into a big game in a big tournament. But we've got all the bases covered," he said.
Unlike days of yore when South Africa relied almost entirely on an attack made up of right-arm seamers, the current vintage are a group who revel in their cricketing diversity.
"We've got a side that's got a lot of variety. We've got pace, the left-armer, spin and all-rounders. It's a nice place to be as a captain," said Smith.
Teams
South Africa (probable)
Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn
Sri Lanka (probable)
Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga
While Kumar Sangakkara admits his side have a "pretty set plan", Graeme Smith is also aware of not straying far from the strategy that has made his side the No.1 team in the world heading into the tournament.
So, reacting to the opposition's methods is not on the cards as both teams, who boasted on Monday about the variety and balance in their respective bowling attacks, rather seek to impose their strategies on the other in today's game.
"We are not really worried about what the opposition is going to do. We know South Africa is a good side," remarked Sangakkara.
"We have beaten them in a World Cup match in South Africa. We've beaten them comprehensively in the subcontinent, especially in the past few tours that they've been there.
"Having gained confidence from that and knowing who the players are and what they can do, it's no use worrying what's coming at us. We've got to really think about what we are going to do and hopefully get the opposition reacting to us."
Smith expressed similar sentiments. "We have to play our game. The crucial thing about playing any other team is to not get drawn into playing the style or the way the other team plays.
"The key for us is to play our brand of cricket the way we have played for the last period of time and hopefully take that and play it better than Sri Lanka plays theirs tomorrow," said the SA captain.
As simple as it is for the two captains to say what they want to see happen, so it will be hard for the players to actually implement the respective strategies.
Both teams contain world-class individuals and there are eerie similarities in how the two attacks shape up. There are good fast bowlers in both sides, though in Dale Steyn, South Africa probably have the best paceman on the park.
The same goes for the spinners, though in Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka hold the ace.
Sangakkara feels this is the best set of fast bowlers Sri Lanka have had in some time, and blending them with the spin of Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, gives their attack greater balance than it has had any time.
"We've got one of the best spinners to ever play the game in Muralitharan and then Ajantha Mendis is one of the best spinners to come out lately and hopefully both of them will get a run. We've got good fast bowlers bowling regularly at 140km/h-plus and we've got all-rounders as well."
There is certainly enough to give Sangakkara confidence.
"This is a very important tournament and we are coming here to try and win it. But to do that, you've got to do the processes right at training, and we have gone a long way towards doing that.
"We've got batsmen in form, we've got bowlers really firing well. It's an exciting time for us. We've just got to convert that into match-winning performances."
Though South Africa have had no serious cricket lately, Smith believes his side will quickly find their rhythm.
"It's our first real challenge in three months, to walk straight into a big game in a big tournament. But we've got all the bases covered," he said.
Unlike days of yore when South Africa relied almost entirely on an attack made up of right-arm seamers, the current vintage are a group who revel in their cricketing diversity.
"We've got a side that's got a lot of variety. We've got pace, the left-armer, spin and all-rounders. It's a nice place to be as a captain," said Smith.
Teams
South Africa (probable)
Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn
Sri Lanka (probable)
Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga
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