Australia edge past South Africa to set up World Cup final with India

Australia defeated South Africa by three wickets in a thrilling semi-final in Kolkata.

It wasn’t quite the batting exhibition that it was at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai just 24 hours before, but the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was treated to a game of bowling masterclass that could rival a proper day of Test cricket. So, by the end, when Australian captain Pat Cummins hit the winning runs and hugged his partner-in-crime Mitchell Starc, there was a sense of relief more than exhilaration.

More importantly though, the resounding theme was South Africa had come close and once again, it had slipped from underneath their fingers. Captain Temba Bavuma had won the toss and decided to bat on a used, capacious pitch in Kolkata where both teams would’ve wanted to have a go at the beginning. But right from the outset, with Bavuma losing his wicket in the very first over, the Proteas found themselves in heaps of trouble.

The South African skipper had been suffering from a hamstring problem and he had no response to a fired-up Mitchell Starc. Clouds circled around Kolkata at this point and it started raining on South Africa heavily when they were reduced to 24/4 by the 12^th over as Starc and Josh Hazlewood continued their carnage.

South Africa who had been by far the most entertaining batting side in this World Cup having scored five 300+ totals and even the highest team score in World Cup history required 52 balls to score a boundary after losing their top order of Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, and Rassie van der Dussen. 52 balls.

This onslaught from Australia brought two middle-order power-hitters in Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller but both of them had to essentially rethink their strategy and focus on re-building an innings from scratch. They put up a resistant 84-run stand on either side of 40 minutes of rain before pushing back with some delicious strokes.

But it was captain Cummins’ introduction of part-timer Travis Head that got them the crucial breakthrough. Head picked up two in the same over after getting the better of Klaasen at 47 and then restricting Marco Jansen to a golden duck. South Africa were back in trouble at 119/6.

This is the point where the contest essentially became a one-man show as David Miller single-handedly kept South Africa alive in the semi-final. With a bit of support from youngster Gerald Coetzee at number 8, Miller kept the scoreboard ticking and brought up a stubborn century under tremendous pressure. He eventually departed in the 48^th over and South Africa got bundled out for 212 - a pretty strong fight-back considering the position that they had found themselves in early on.

Needing just 214 to chase, Australia made a pretty strong start with David Warner and Travis Head stitching 60 runs together for the first wicket. Head went on to score a half-century but Australia got quickly pegged back with the dismissals of Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, and Steve Smith.

It was at this point that the World Cup semi-final pretty much became the final session of a Test with an extremely aggressive field setup as well as batters looking to survive first than score. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc’s experience came in handy as both the members of that illustrious 2015 World Cup-winning squad dug their heels deep and refused to let the Proteas make further inroads.

So the stage has been set up. A replay of the 2003 Cricket World Cup final at the world’s largest cricket stadium. Indian fans will be wishing that this time, it ends on a much better note than ‘03.