Temba Bavuma-led South Africa will clash with Pat Cummins-led 5-time world champions Australia in a classic semi-final of the ongoing ICC men's World Cup 2023 at Kolkata's Eden Garden on 16 November.
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South Africa finished second in the group stage and won 7 out of 9 played in the league. They had 14 points with a net run rate (NRR) of (+)1.261.
Sitting in the third position are Australia with the same points as the Proteas, but a lesser NRR of (+)0.841. But, with the semi-final being a knockout match, the NRR will only come into play in case the match is abandoned by any chance, and the team with the better NRR will proceed to the final.
After 16 years, South Africa again faces Australia in a 50-over World Cup knockout. They faced each other in 1999 and 2007. On both occasions, Australia won the matches.
So far, Australia and South Africa have faced each other 7 times in ICC ODI Cricket World Cup competitions, where Australia won 3, South Africa won 3, and one match was tied.
Looking at the highest total posed by teams, for Australia against the Proteas is 377, while for Proteas against Australia 325.
South Africa's lowest against Australia is 149 while Australia's lowest against South Africa is 153.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada
Australia: David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc,
Quinton de Kock (VC)(WK), Heinrich Klaasen, David Warner (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
The pitches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata are generally known as batting-friendly. However, as the match proceeds, the pitch becomes slow and acts in favour of spinners.
According to Accuweather, Kolkata's weather will be dry on 16 November though it will witness passing clouds. The temperature will hover between 22-27 degrees Celcius.
As per Google’s win probability, there is over 60% chance that South Africa will beat Australia in this match.
Even other websites, like CricTracker and MyKhel tilt in favour of the Proteas. It will not be an easy match for either of the teams. However, we believe the Proteas will get over the ghost of the past defeats against Australia and emerge victorious this time.
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