Gibbs banking on Lady Luck to win Cup despite Aussie stranglehood

Sydney, Mar 22 (UNI) Glenn McGrath&Co can take heart from red hot six-sixes hitter Herschelle Gibbs' confession that Austrlia has always exerted a mental stranglehold over him, but ahead of the crucial tie between the two favourites, the South African batsman believes the team will be thrid time lucky.

Gibbs, who is playing his thrid World Cup, is determined to set things right this time around and backs his team to win the Cup, albiet with a little of help from 'Lady Luck'.

''You need a bit of luck to win a World Cup. It's my third World Cup now, and the last two we have been very unlucky. We've got the squad now, and with a bit of luck, who knows what can happen,'' Gibbs said.

Paying due respect to the Aussies, he said, ''The guys (Proteas) have a lot of belief in each other, and that goes a long way, especially against Australia. I think we have got the team now to go all the way.'' Gibbs has a very ordinary average of 27 against the Aussies in the ODIs, and so he is all the more determined to prove a point or two to the Australians that he is better than his modest record suggests.

He took a giant leap towards banishing past demons with his outrageous 175 as part of the world-record run chase in Johannesburg last year.

Analysing how he fared against the Aussies, he said, ''Maybe the mental side of it has got something to do with it.

''They [Australia] don't allow you to score as freely as you do against any other nation, and they have always had a lot more experience than any other team I have played against, and that is something you can't put a price on.'' ''There is always a bit of banter that goes on. It is something we have come to expect of Australia but when you have played against them for long enough that's just the way it is. There is always going to be some banter between South Africa and Australia,'' he was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'.

A huge amount of interest surrounds Gibbs in the West Indies after he became the first man to slog six sixes in an over in international cricket, an achievement that drew dignitaries from all over the Caribbean as tournament sponsor Johnny Walker donated one million dollars to a charity in his honour.

Gibbs was seen as the main culprit behind not making it to the 1999 WC finals after he dropped Steve Waugh on his way to 120 not out at Headingley, which also earned him the title ''the man who dropped the World Cup''.

But he has dismissed reports that he was still haunted by that moment.

Gibbs said he still regards Ricky Ponting's side as the team to beat at the World Cup, regardless of who holds the No.1 ranking.

Equally, he thinks this South Africa team, under the relaxed leadership of coach Mickey Arthur, is the strongest since the country emerged from isolation after the apartheid era 15 years ago.

''I think it has been the most consistent,'' Gibbs said. ''As far as selection is concerned, I think we have got a lot more batting depth, which could be a huge advantage as far as the one-day game is concerned.

Can South Africa repeat their record breaking run chase achieved last year ? Gibbs says, ''The 438 game was a freak sort of game, and in the mental preparation coming to the World Cup it gave me a little extra motivation, an extra incentive, to maybe explore my talents a little bit further just to see what I could accomplish.'' McGrath has dismissed him 11 times in international cricket; only Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas has been more successful against Gibbs in one-dayers.

UNI