Australia and South Africa will meet in the second semi-final of the 2023 World Cup at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 16. Here are five key player battles to look out for in the crunch game.

Australia and South Africa will clash in a men’s World Cup semi-final for the third time when they meet at the Eden Gardens on November 16.

The 1999 World Cup semi-final famously finished in a chaotic tie but Australia advanced through to the final on account of finishing higher on the points table, while the 2007 World Cup semi-final was comprehensively won by Australia.

The last time these two sides met in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup, South Africa won by a whopping 134 runs at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

However, since then, Australia have won all their seven league games to finish third on the points table, while South Africa were second with the same number of points (14) but a higher net run rate.

As the two teams will fight it out for a spot in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, here is a look at five key player battles that may go on to define the result of the contest.

Mitchell Starc vs Quinton de Kock

Starc has not had the sort of Word Cup that he is known for having. He has struggled for rhythm, picking just 10 wickets from eight games at an economy rate of 6.55. However, he has a good head-t0-head record against de Kock in ODIs.

From 13 innings, Starc has dismissed the South African wicketkeeper four times at an average of 28.25, conceding only 4.77 an over. It will be important for Australia to get rid of de Kock early, and their hopes for that will be resting on Starc.

Adam Zampa vs Heinrich Klaasen

Zampa finished the league stage as the highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets. Klaasen, on the other hand, smashed 326 runs at a strike rate of 140.52 including a memorable hundred against England in Mumbai. The best spinner in the league stage up against one of the best batters of spin in white-ball cricket will be one of the most important individual battles to watch out for in the second semi-final.

Keshav Maharaj vs Glenn Maxwell

Recently promoted to No.1 in ICC ODI rankings for bowlers, Maharaj has been an underrated yet consistent performer for South Africa throughout the World Cup, picking 14 wickets at an economy under 4.5.

In their league game against Australia, he had Maxwell caught and bowled in Lucknow. On a similarly low and slow surface in Kolkata, Maharaj will be South Africa’s trump card against Maxwell, who has shown how he can single-handedly take games away in this World Cup.

Kagiso Rabada vs David Warner

Warner has scored 499 runs in this World Cup so far at 55.4, while Rabada has taken 12 wickets at 26.9. Head-to-head, however, Warner holds the edge over Rabada, having scored 185 runs off him in just 143 deliveries in ODIs without ever getting dismissed.

Rabada has generally come in first change for South Africa in this World Cup. If they don’t manage to get rid of Warner before Rabada comes on, it might spell trouble for them.

Marco Jansen vs Travis Head

Jansen might have taken 17 wickets from eight games in this World Cup at 24.41, but he has not always been in complete control of his lines and lengths as his economy rate of 6.40 reflects. Head, who scored a blistering ton in his first game of the World Cup against New Zealand, has struggled for runs since.

Against Jansen, however, he has a brilliant ODI record, having scored 73 runs in 45 balls without ever getting dismissed. Who wins this battle will go a long way in setting up the direction in which the game will head.

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