Australia secured their place in their eighth men’s ODI World Cup final with a nerve-wracking win over South Africa in Kolkata, extending the Proteas’ run of semi-final defeats to five.
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Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc saw Australia over the line with three wickets to spare in a tense chase on a turning deck at Eden Gardens. Having been set 213 to chase (an eerie reminder of the 1999 semi-final, in which each side made 213 and Australia progressed by virtue of their posiiton in the group) thanks to David Miller’s 101, Australia collapsed to South Africa’s spinners.
David Warner and Travis Head put on a 60-run partnership off the first 38 balls of the innings, before Aiden Markram bowled Warner with his first ball into the attack. Mitchell Marsh followed him back to the dressing room two overs later for a duck, and Keshav Maharaj got rid of Head with the first ball of his spell.
By that point, Australia were 106-3 and still needed another 107 runs to win. Batting looked exceptionally difficult which vindicated Temba Bavuma’s earlier decision to bat first on the surface, and Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith both struggled to score runs with any fluency. Labuschagne survived a tight lbw call off Tabraiz Shamsi before the wrist-spinner got his man shortly afterwards. He was followed shortly afterwards by Glenn Maxwell who was bowled playing a horrible shot to Shamsi.
Smith, who calmly accumulated Australia towards their target, had a moment of madness to Gerald Coetzee which briefly put Australia’s chances in jeopardy. With 39 runs still needed to win, he played an ugly swipe to the pacer, skying the ball in the air to give Quinton de Kock a catch. Josh Inglis also fell with the score still below 200, leaving the bowlers to get the batting side across the line.
Heartbreak again for South Africa 💔
Australia win by three wickets with 16 balls remaining and progress to the World Cup final! 🇦🇺
An instant classic in Kolkata.#AUSvSA #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/XUhOt9snid
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 16, 2023
However, with three overs still to spare, Cummins calmly hit the winning runs with a four off Marco Jansen, sealing a three-wicket win for his side. Australia will now face India in the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday (November 19), where they will be gunning for their sixth men’s ODI World Cup title. India are 2/5 favourites to win the World Cup final with Betway.
