Peterson keen for important bowling role

Robin Peterson believes he has a major role to play in the World Cup despite his limited impact with the ball so far. Peterson hoped the success of other spinners - including Brad Hogg, Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori - in the Caribbean might be an indication that he can help South Africa reach the semi-finals.

"Coming to the West Indies I thought the wickets were always going to be slow and I expect, at some stage, to have a role in the tournament and I must make sure that I am ready," Peterson told AFP. He has played only two of South Africa's four World Cup matches, for figures of 0 for 43 from 11 overs.

With Shaun Pollock struggling to contain top-order batsmen and South Africa's attack dominated by fast bowlers, Peterson hoped he would be called upon more often as the tournament progressed. "I think because of the heat the role of a spinner was always there," he said.

"You can't bowl seamers all the time and it's also important to control the over rate, change the pace of the game, so there's always a role for a spinner. You look to spinner to slow the run rate, just get the batsmen thinking of a certain style of bowling and as a spinner you think all the time and, if you pick up wickets, it's a bonus."

Peterson's bowling has been economical but unspectacular, however it is for his only World Cup innings that Peterson's team-mates will thank him the most. When Lasith Malinga claimed four wickets from four balls to leave South Africa unexpectedly on the verge of a loss to Sri Lanka, Peterson edged a boundary to third man to ensure victory.

"I'm not a hero, I was just lucky," he said. "Obviously I'm happy that it was important to win the game and the two points came our way. The important thing was that we came out on top at the end."

South Africa face Ireland in Guyana on Tuesday, and Peterson said his team would not take the encounter lightly after almost losing to Ireland in a warm-up game. Two days later South Africa will play Bangladesh before finishing the Super Eights with a string of tough clashes against West Indies, New Zealand and England.