Your ultimate guide ahead of a blockbuster semi-final between two nations with a storied history at this stage of World Cups
Australia v South Africa: All you need to know
First 1999. Then 2007. Now 2023. Australia has progressed each time they've met South Africa in ODI semi-finals. Will the trend continue, or will the Proteas make it third time lucky?
Match facts
Who: Australia v South Africa
What: 2023 ODI Men's World Cup semi final
When: Thursday November 16. Coin toss at 7:00pm AEDT, first ball at 7:30pm AEDT (2:00pm local)
Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and Nine/Gem/Go!/Rush
Officials: Richard Kettleborough and Nitin Menon (standing), Chris Gaffaney (third), Michael Gough (fourth)
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Unplayable Podcast
The Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams
Both squads have used their full squad of 15 throughout the tournament, with back-up quicks Sean Abbott, Lizaad Williams and Andile Phehlukwayo all featuring for a solitary match late in the group stage.
Local knowledge
India's second-largest cricket stadium is also the nation's oldest having been built in 1864. Despite its age, Australia have only played three ODIs In Kolkata, winning two but losing the last by 50 runs to India in 2017.
From the four matches at Eden Gardens in this World Cup, you would have to say that pace bowling has been marginally more effective, with the pace average and economy sitting at 24.8 and 5.25 compared to spin's 31.54 and 4.99 respectively.
Surprisingly, there could be a bit of rain around with heavy spells expected from the Bay of Bengal from Thursday, with possible cyclonic conditions forecasted for the state of West Bengal where Kolkata sits.
What happens if it's washed out?
Thankfully, there are reserve days for both semi-finals should bad weather ruin the scheduled contests.
However if the reserve days (pencilled in for the day following the respective fixtures) are also washed out, the highest-ranked side (India and South Africa) will progress to the final.
Super over?
If the match ends as a tie, yep!
The one over per side decider will be used if scores finish level, with an unlimited amount of subsequent super overs to be played if the ties keep coming.
Possible Starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
The Australian squad has a clean bill of health and now must make a difficult decision on who to select between Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Stoinis for the middle order spot. Given Travis Head and Mitch Marsh have both bowled a little more in recent matches, Stoinis' bowling is perhaps less crucial than it was at the beginning of the tournament. However, his ability to take apart an attack is matched by possibly only Glenn Maxwell in the Australian set up, a very tempting skill set, especially considering the destructive power of their opposition's middle order. Labuschagne on the other hand offers more reliability with the bat and more dynamism in the field.
South Africa have a tough call to make: the raw pace of Gerald Coetzee or the left-arm wrist-spin of Tabraiz Shamsi. That seems to be big decision to be made on this XI with Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi the preferred new-ball pairing, and Kaigso Rabada enjoying a great tournament at first change. Captain Temba Bavuma strained his hamstring during the Afghanistan match and has been on light duties in the lead-in to this match. When Bavuma missed two matches earlier in the World Cup through illness, Reeza Hendricks replaced him at the top and Aiden Markram took the reins as skipper.
Recent form
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: WWWWWWWLLW
Australia's last loss was back in Lucknow on October 12 against South Africa. Since then it's been seven wins in a row for a side that seems to have found their mojo after an early-tournament hiccup. They have a fine record in semi-finals but their recent record against the Proteas (four straight losses) doesn't make for the best reading.
South Africa: WLWWWWLWWW
It's been a wonderful tournament by the Proteas, with dominant wins over Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England. They were upset in grand style against the Netherlands and soundly beaten by India in Kolkata but otherwise have been consistently a high-scoring, exciting team to watch.
World Cup Standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Last time they met
Both sides' second match of the tournament was decidedly one-sided. Pat Cummins sent South Africa in expecting some evening dew in Lucknow to become a factor but Quinton de Kock's century had the Proteas on track for well over 350. However, some good death bowling from the Australian quicks limited South Africa to 311 and it felt an even contest. However as the lights turned on the conditions changed drastically – Lundi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada wrecked havoc with a moving ball as Australia slumped to 6-70. From there they couldn't recover and fell to a 134-run defeat.
Head-to-head
Overall: Australia (50 wins), South Africa (55 wins), three ties, one no result
Past 10 years: Australia (nine wins), South Africa (19 wins), one no result
At World Cups: Australia (three wins), South Africa (three wins), one tie
In World Cup semi-finals: Australia (one win), one tie
Most runs: Ricky Ponting (1879), Jacques Kallis (1639), Jonty Rhodes (1610), Steve Waugh (1581)
Most wickets: Shane Warne (60), Glenn McGrath (58), Shaun Pollock (55), Dale Steyn (49)
South Africa is the only team in world cricket that holds a positive win-loss record over Australia in men's ODIs with 55 wins and only 50 losses against the five-time champions. They've also had the wood over the Aussies in recent memory too, with victories in their last four outings. It's also incredibly tight at World Cups too, with three wins apiece. One of those was the 2007 semi-final and the other semi they've contested was famously tied – enough to send Australia through to the final because of their superior net run rate.
Rapid stats
- The coin toss could be vitally important – teams batting first have won 10 of the past 13 matches at this venue
- South Africa have won nine of their last 11 men’s ODIs against Australia including their last four in a row
- South Africa have never made a World Cup final from four attempts at the semi-final while Australia have only one of their seven semis
- Australia have won their last seven men’s ODIs in succession which is their longest streak since a 10-game run from March to June in 2019; they have won the toss only twice in this current stretch
- Glenn Maxwell (Australia) has scored 46 runs via reverse sweeps in World Cup, the most of any player in the competition; though South Africa duo Quinton De Kock (34) and Rassie Van Der Dussen (23) have hit the second and third most respectively
- David Warner (Australia) has scored 1,491 runs at the World Cup and needs only nine more to become the fifth player to reach 1,500 runs scored at the tournament; he is also one run away from becoming the third player in tournament history to score 500+ runs in multiple editions (also Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar)
- Adam Zampa has 22 wickets, the most by an Australian spinner in a single men's World Cup campaign. He needs one more to match the all-time spinners record at a World Cup, set by Muttiah Muralidaran (23) in 2007.
Where to next?
The winner is off to Ahmedabad for the World Cup final. The loser is out – there's no third-place playoff in this tournament. Regardless, the Aussies have a five-match T20 series against India immediately after the decider on November 19.
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs
November 4: Beat England by 33 runs
November 7: Beat Afghanistan by three wickets
November 11: Beat Bangladesh by eight wickets
November 16: Second semi-final v South Africa, Kolkata, 7.30pm AEDT
November 19: Final, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa