S Africa play down World Cup hype

WELLINGTON, Feb 7 (AFP): South Africa skipper AB de Villiers admits the Proteas are one of the form sides going into the World Cup but he is reluctant to talk up his team's chances.
"We've been the favourites before in the tournament. It didn't work out for us," he said Saturday in Christchurch where South Africa will complete their preparations.
"I'm not really sure if (favourite) is a title that deserves a lot of time and a lot of talking about, but look, obviously the Aussies are the number one in the world at the moment in the shorter format."
Australia and India fill the top two rankings followed by South Africa and Sri Lanka ahead of the tournament which opens on February 14 in New Zealand and Australia.
The farewell message to the South Africans from their Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula was to not become "a bunch of losers", which de Villiers took as government pressure to win.
"We understand that and obviously there's pressure that comes with comments like that, but we don't mind that," he said, adding that regardless of the hype the Proteas were desperate to win.