Australia Eliminates South Africa in the World Cup 2023 setting up a final match against India

In Short

• In the ODI World Cup semifinals, Australia defeated South Africa for the fifth time on Thursday.
• The 2023 World Cup final between Australia and the hosts, India, is scheduled for Sunday.
• Australia will be competing in their eighth ODI World Cup final.

Australia advanced to face India for the title after defeating South Africa in Thursday's second semifinal of the 2023 World Cup at the Eden Gardens.  On November 19, the final will take place at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.  In a thrilling match, Australia overcame a determined threat from the Proteas to chase down 213 runs with 3 wickets and 2.4 overs remaining.

Australia has won the ODI World Cup five times and this will be their eighth time participating.  After winning the World Cup three times in a row from 1999 to 2007, they began an era of unparalleled dominance that began with their first World Cup victory in 1987.  Australia emerged victorious in the 2015 World Cup.

This was Australia and South Africa's third meeting in the ODI World Cup semifinals.  In 1999, Australia overcame a deficit to win a thrilling draw in the first meeting between the two teams.  While the most recent semifinal in 2023 promised a thrilling match before the Australians arrived home, leaving South Africa devastated, Australia roared to a decisive victory in 2007.

All five of South Africa's World Cup semifinals have now been lost.  After making it to the last four in 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015, and 2019, they were unable to advance to the final.

Due to Australia's victory, India will face them in a classic final.  The two sides had met in the 2003 World Cup final, but an outstanding performance by Ricky Ponting had sparked a lopsided Australian triumph in Johannesburg.  Twenty years later, India is the favourite going into the final.  In the tournament, India has won all ten of their games.

In world cricket, Australia and India have a long-standing rivalry.  The World Test Championship final at The Oval was the second major final this year, and the third between the two teams overall.

HEAD, WARNER DICTATE TERMS

Travis Head and David Warner got off to a fast start in their pursuit.  Warner hit four sixes in an 18-ball 29 that left South Africa's pacers looking flat.  When Aiden Markram, a part-time spinner, caught Warner in the seventh over, he made the breakthrough.  At that point, Australia was 60 for 1 and appeared to be the clear winners.  However, in the following over, Mitchell Marsh was dismissed for a duck by the costly Kagiso Rabada.

Keshav Maharaj, who was playing at the same venue against India a few days ago and was in scorching form, was somehow delayed by Bavuma.  Australia felt some pressure when Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi finally began bowling together.  As Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne tried to barely make it, the two South African spinners were unrelenting.

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Australia had the advantage of not having to aim for a high run-rate.  The Eden Gardens pitch was giving Maharaj and Shamsi a lot of purchases, which was bad for Australia.  The fact that Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell decided to play incredibly bad shots when all they had to do was defeat the two ferocious South African spinners was even worse.

Australia was lucky to have the composed Steve Smith in the centre.  He didn't need to take many chances, so he didn't.  Smith chose to drop anchor after being dropped twice, and he scored 30 off 62 balls to bring Australia within striking distance of the target.  Gerald Coetzee removed him when Australia needed to win by 39 runs.  Australia had enough batting cushion to be able to chase down a modest total, but Smith was upset with himself after making a bad shot.

Despite a heroic bowling effort, particularly from fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, who took the crucial wicket of Josh Inglis when the game was still tight, the total of 212 was never going to be sufficient.  Though they were well aware that they only needed to knock it around, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins worked together to complete the task.

IMPLOSION UNDER GREY SKY

Temba Bavuma knew his batters could be overwhelmed by the pressure of a run chase in a crucial match, so South Africa decided to bat in the semifinal.  However, South Africa fell apart under the influence of some excellent pace bowling in cloudy conditions, and David Miller's incredible century was ultimately insufficient.

Temba Bavuma's tournament performance has been appalling.  Mitchell Starc dismissed the South Africa captain for a duck in the opening over on Thursday, just when the team needed him to step up and do something exceptional.

Surprisingly, South Africa didn't even seek out any initiative following that dismissal.  Together with Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen was at sea against Josh Hazlewood and Starc.  Despite being the second-highest run scorer in the World Cup, de Kock only managed three runs off of fourteen balls and never seemed at ease at the crease.  When he attempted to release the pressure created by the Australian new-ball bowlers with a poor shot in the sixth over of the innings, his suffering came to an end.

The next man out was Aiden Markram, who had smashed a century off of 49 balls in South Africa's opening World Cup match.  In the eleventh over, he was dismissed by Starc for a 10 off 20 balls.  When Hazlewood struck in the innings' next over and removed the dangerous Rassie van der Dussen, Australia caused the South Africans even more suffering.

KILLER MILLER SCRIPTS HISTORY

In the semifinal, South Africa needed a miracle to survive, and David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen provided it. They recovered from a brief rain delay and took full advantage of the fact that Starc and Hazlewood had bowled out the majority of their overs in long stretches.  Since Pat Cummins was ineffective in his opening over, he looked to Adam Zampa, who was at the top of the wicket-takers' charts until Wednesday, when Mohammed Shami overtook him.

Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller dissected Adam Zampa.  They were aware that the first step towards atonement would be to attack Australia's top bowler.  In a recent bilateral match, Klaasen and Miller formed one of the most damaging ODI partnerships.  In Kolkata, the stakes were considerably higher, and South Africa continued to increase their total despite Glenn Maxwell's stingy tenure.

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When it appeared that Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, was at a loss for ideas, he turned to Travis Head.  Despite giving up two boundaries in his first over, Head was able to take out Klaasen and Marco Jansen with consecutive deliveries.

David Miller was forced to change gears and search for runs as a result.  One of the most daring hundreds in World Cup history would be scored by him.  In the end, South Africa was bowled out for 212, which was only one run less than the combined total of the two teams in that now-famous 1999 World Cup semifinal.