Australia beat South Africa by three wickets in their 2023 World Cup semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today . Pat Cummins team will now face India in the final. Chasing 213 runs, Australia managed to reach 215/7 in 47.2 overs, in a highly tactical match.
Travis Head got a half-century for Australia, smacking 62 runs off 48 balls. Meanwhile, Steve Smith (30), David Warner (29) and Josh Inglis (28) also got key knocks for Australia. For South Africa’s bowling department, Tabraiz Shamsi and Gerald Coetzee took two wickets each.
Earlier, David Miller’s 101 off 116 balls almost single-handedly took South Africa to a score of 212 after Australia piled on the pressure in the first 20 overs and sent back their top four within the first 12. Australia came out with the bit between their teeth after Temba Bavuma and chose to bat first.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were relentless with their lines and lengths while the Australian fielders were flying around and stopping almost everything. It led to South Africa scoring just 22 runs in the first 11 overs and losing three wickets, including their batting talisman Quinton de Kock. Matters got even worse as Hazlewood got Rassie van der Dussen in the 12th. That brought together South Africa’s finishers Heinrich Klaasen and Miller in the 12th over of the innings itself.