Bridgetown: South Africa vice-captain Jacques Kallis has warned that Australia’s unbeaten record in the World Cup will count for nothing when the sides meet in the semi-final in St Lucia on Wednesday.

“They’ve played some very good cricket in this tournament while we’ve had a few hiccups along the way,” said Kallis.

“But now all that doesn’t mean much. There’s all the hype before the game but carrying your points through doesn’t count for anything in a semi-final.”

Kallis said both teams will go into the match high on confidence.

“They’ll carry a lot of confidence through because of the way they’ve played, but we’re also confident after a massive win against England.”

The South Africans will make all effort to stay calm, said Kallis. “It’s important that we stay relaxed and calm. From our perspective, the trip to the Caribbean has been a positive thing.

“We’ve had some pressure situations, like when we faced elimination in the match against England. We’ve had some other close calls to deal with but we’ve managed to stay calm throughout.”

Kallis is one of the four survivors from the dramatic tied semi-final against Australia at the 1999 World Cup in Birmingham, the others being Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs.

“We gained a lot of experience from that game,” said Kallis. “Looking back, there are a few things that we could have done differently. The experience we’ve gained in all these years will probably stand us in good stead.”

Pollock said he was looking forward to the challenge of trying to contain or dismiss Australia’s hard-hitting top order batsmen.

“We’ve had some close encounters against Australia and we’ve learnt from those,” said Pollock. “It’s the kind of challenge that you want to play cricket for. You want to come up against the best and if you can win the battle, it gives you real satisfaction.”

Gibbs said there was no pressure on them. “Our backs were against the wall (before the game against England). Now we’re just going to go out there and enjoy it.”

Kallis said the players weren’t sure what to expect from the pitch in st Lucia but were keen to win through and play in Saturday’s final in Bridgetown.

“We haven’t played the consistent cricket we would have liked but I think we have peaked at the right time.

“We’ve beaten Australia in the past and they’ve beaten us. It will be the side that is the most relaxed on the day and wins the key overs that will win the match,” he said.