South Africa vs Australia Live Score, World Cup 2nd Semi-Final 2023: South Africa weren’t expected to make it till this point but now that they are here, they will have to deal with some old devils. It goes without saying that the Proteas have always been better than their World …Read More Cup record. They have never won this tournament, never even reached the final, but take a cursory glance into the past and you can identify various points at which South Africa arguably had the best team in the world across formats.
The current era didn’t quite feel that way before the start of this tournament. This is a South African team made of youngsters who are yet to truly establish themselves and veterans who, except perhaps for Quinton de Kock, didn’t quite fulfill the potential they had shown when they were young. They are led by a player who has blown hot and cold with his own personal form in recent years. Their cricket behind the scenes has been in a bit of a turmoil and there have been questions over whether South Africa are interested in Test cricket considering the kind of schedule they have got in the near future. They were never seen as pushovers before the start of this tournament, but not many commentators and former players had them chalked the Proteas down as a favourite to reach the top four.
What ended up happening is that the South Africans blew up batting records and their bowling lineup led by the extraordinary Kagiso Rabada and the tenacious Keshav Maharaj has done the rest. De Kock, who is set to retire from this format after the tournament, is in the form of his life, Aiden Markram has shown the number of gears he can play in while Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller have gone about destroying bowling lineups in all kinds of ways.
The only real worry they have had with regards to form and fitness has been captain Temba Bavuma. The 33-year-old has scored 145 runs in seven innings in the tournament – fewer than any of the other regular batters in the squad – but he is leaned on for his leadership and presence. South Africa won well without him when he missed the games against England and Bangladesh, both at the Wankhede, because of a stomach problem. But seem to be a calmer, more settled side when Bavuma plays.
The Australians had their own hamstring issue to worry about, particularly with regards to Glenn Maxwell after his miracle knock against Afghanistan. But scans have cleared him to play. How did he sustain that injury? Well if you are asking that, it means you missed one of the greatest ODI innings of all time. Australia were 91/7 at the Wankhede Stadium chasing a target of 292 against Afghanistan when he was joined in the middle by captain Pat Cummins. Together they put up an unbeaten partnership of 202 off 170 to lead Australia to the unlikeliest of wins. Cummins’s contribution in that stand was 12 in, wait for it… 68 balls! Maxwell contributed 179 in 102 and ended with a score of 201 not out off 128 balls. Moreover, he practically had no feet to stand on for much of the last quarter of the innings having been besieged by all kinds of cramps. With no foot movement at all, he just stood and bashed fours and sixes and bludgeoned his way into World Cup folklore.
That match also is a nice reflection on Australia’s campaign in this World Cup. They lost the first two matches by gigantic margins and were sent to the bottom half of the table, leading to many writing them off. Well, they just never lost a match after that and now, the five-time champions are two wins away from taking a sixth title.
Here are a few pointers around the South Africa vs Australia 2023 World Cup Semi-Final:
– South Africa and Australia have met just twice in the knockouts of the World Cup before this
– South Africa finished second on the points table while Australia finished third
– Rain threat looms over the fixture and if the reserve day is also washed off, South Africa qualify for the final
– Form guide (Last five matches): Australia – WWWWW; South Africa – WLWWW
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