SA v AUS, World Cup 2023: Australia set up final against India after breaking South African hearts in Kolkata

Australia defeated South Africa in the second semifinal of the 2023 World Cup at the Eden Gardens on Thursday to set up a title clash against India.

The final will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19. Australia prevailed in a thriller as they chased down 213 runs with 3 wickets and 2.4 overs to spare, fending off a spirited threat from the Proteas.

This will be the 8th ODI World Cup for Australia, who have won the tournament five times. They first lifted the World Cup in 1987 before starting a period of unmatched domination when they won the Cup three successive times from 1999 to 2007. In 2015, Australia won the World Cup in 2015.

This was the third ODI World Cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa. The first such match between the two sides was played out in 1999 when Australia came from behind to secure a sensational tie. In 2007, Australia roared to a dominant win while the latest semifinal in 2023, showed promises of a thriller before the Australians reached home, leaving South Africa gutted.

South Africa have now lost all their five World Cup semifinals. They failed to qualify for the final after reaching the last-four in 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015 and 2019.

Australia’s victory has set up a classic final against India. The two teams had faced off in the final of the 2003 World Cup but a Ricky Ponting masterclass had scripted a one-sided Australian victory in Johannesburg. 20 years later, India go into the final as the favourites. India have won all their 10 matches in the tournament.

India and Australia share a storied rivalry in world cricket. This will be the third major final between the two teams and the second this year alone after the World Test Championship final at The Oval.

HEAD, WARNER DICTATE TERMS
David Warner and Travis Head raced away to a strong start to their chase. South Africa’s pacers looked flat as Warner hit four sixes in an 18-ball 29. The breakthrough was provided by the part-time spin of Aiden Markram when he snared Warner in the 7th over. Australia, at that stage, were 60 for 1 and looked like runaway winners. But Kagiso Rabada, who was expensive, struck to get rid of Mitchell Marsh for a duck in the next over.

For some reason, Bavuma delayed the introduction of Keshav Maharaj, who was in red-hot form against India at the same venue a few days ago. When finally Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi started bowling in tandem, Australia could feel a little pressure. The two South Africa spinners were relentless as Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne looked to just survive.

The good thing for Australia was that they did not need to chase a high run-rate. The bad thing for Australia was that both Maharaj and Shamsi were getting a lot of purchase from the Eden Gardens pitch. And worse still was the fact that Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell chose to play inexplicably poor shots when all they needed to do was see off the two fired-up South African spinners.

Fortunately for Australia, they had the calm Steve Smith in the middle. He did not take many chances because he did not need to. After being dropped twice, Smith decided to drop anchor and scored 30 off 62 balls to take Australia close to the target. He was dismissed by Gerald Coetzee with Australia needing 39 runs to win. Smith was miffed with himself after playing a horrible shot but Australia had enough batting cushion to be able to chase a modest total down.

The total of 212 was never going to be enough despite a valiant bowling effort, especially from fast bowler Gerald Coetzee in the end as he got the big wicket of Josh Inglis when the game was still tense. However, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins combined to get the job done, knowing fully well that they just needed to knock it around.

IMPLOSION UNDER GREY SKY
South Africa chose to bat in the semifinal because Temba Bavuma knew his batters could be burdened by the pressure of a run chase in a big game. However, South Africa collapsed in the face of some superb pace bowling in overcast conditions and at the end, David Miller’s sensational hundred would not be enough.

Temba Bavuma has had a wretched tournament with the bat. On Thursday, when the team needed him to stand up and do something special, the South Africa captain fell to Mitchell Starc for a duck in the first over.

Shockingly, after that dismissal, South Africa failed to even look for any kind of initiative. Rassie van der Dussen joined Quinton de Kock and the two of them were all at sea against Starc and Josh Hazlewood. de Kock is the second highest run-scorer in the World Cup but he signed out with a mere 3 off 14 balls, never looking comfortable in his stay at the crease. His agony came to an end as early as the sixth over of the innings when he played a poor shot in an attempt to release the pressure created by the Australian new-ball bowlers. de Kock tried to hit a length ball into orbit but he lacked any kind of control and Pat Cummins held on to a stunning catch.

Aiden Markram, who had hammered a 49-ball hundred in South Africa’s first match of the World Cup, was the next man to go. He fell to Starc for a 20-ball 10 in the 11th over. Australia inflicted further pain on the South Africans when Hazlewood struck in the next over of the innings and dismissed the dangerous Rassie van der Dussen.

KILLER MILLER SCRIPTS HISTORY
South Africa needed a miracle to stay afloat in the semifinal and that came in the shape and form of David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen; the pair rebuilt after a short rain break and made full use of the fact that Starc and Hazlewood had bowled out most of their overs in extended spells. Pat Cummins wasn’t effective in his first over and he turned to Adam Zampa, who led the wicket-takers’ charts until Mohammed Shami left him behind on Wednesday.

Adam Zampa was taken apart by Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. They knew attacking Australia’s best bowler would be the first step to some kind of redemption. Not long ago, Klaasen had paired with Miller for one of the most destructive ODI partnerships in a bilateral match. The stakes in Kolkata were much higher and despite a miserly spell from Glenn Maxwell, South Africa kept adding to their tally.

Travis Head was the trump card for Pat Cummins when it looked like the Australia captain was running out of ideas. Head’s first over was eventful; he conceded two boundaries but he also picked the wickets of Klaasen and Marco Jansen off successive deliveries.

That left David Miller with no choice but to shift gears and look for runs. He would go on to score one of the gutsiest hundreds in World Cup history. Eventually, South Africa were bowled out for 212, just one run short of what the two teams scored in that now iconic semifinal in the 1999 World Cup.