With Australia winning a semifinal match against South Africa in the 2023 edition, they will be chasing their sixth World Cup title on November 19 at Ahmedabad.
Australia’s race for Sixth World Cup title
Australia will be facing India in the finals of the World Cup 2023 after their dramatic victory at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday Night. They scored 215 runs losing seven wickets chasing South Africa’s 212 runs.
The match reminded the World Cup semifinals in 1999 where the match resulted in a tie. Then, Australia got their spot in the finals where they played against Pakistan. Pat Cummins had been finishing big matches with his style, hitting the winning runs like the first test in Ashes 2023 and the first Test against South Africa 12 years ago.
He also backed Glenn Maxwell during the match against Afghanistan where the allrounder scored 201* runs. Their victory against Afghanistan assured their spot in the semifinals.
South Africa struggled a lot despite winning the toss and batted first. They have shown the most aggressive form of cricket in this tournament. But with Australian bowlers’ intensity, South Africa’s top order collapsed to 4/24 by the end of the 12th over.
Mitchell Starc dismissed three wickets 3/34 runs while Josh Hazlewood dismissed 2/12 and terrified the South African side. David Miller took the stance and scored 101 runs which helped the side from getting folded below 200+ score. His presence pressured Australians and their captain decided to step in to take down the batter.
With the target of 213, Australia had a fresh start as Travis Head hammered 62 runs in 48 balls with nine fours and two sixes. David Warner was impressive with his 29 runs on 18 balls which included four sixes. Together, they increased the team score to 60 runs in 6.1 overs.
They calculated all possibilities to ensure their spot in the finals by increasing their run rate because of the weather conditions. If the match had been cancelled, South Africa would have gone to the finals with their run rate.
The South African side also foresaw all possibilities and used more spin options rather than Pace bowlers. With the dismissal of David Warner by Markram and Travis by Keshav Maharaj, Australia had some setbacks but played up to the end to taste victory in the semifinals.
Finally, Australia won the match with the winning hit of Cummins who hit four in his style and closed their gap for their World Cup title chase.
Australia will be playing the finals against unbeaten India in the tournament at Narendra Modi Stadium.
