Skipper Pat Cummins expects the Kolkata surface to turn, which could strengthen the chance of Marnus Labuschagne holding his spot
Aussies expect spin on used pitch as tough call looms
Australia are bracing for a turning Kolkata pitch in the World Cup semi-final, believed to be the same one used for the England-Pakistan match only five days prior, which could increase the prospects of Marnus Labuschagne holding his spot to face South Africa.
A dry Eden Gardens surface, which baked further in the morning sun on the eve of the match, could prompt Australia to bank on Labuschagne’s safe pair of hands, with runs expected to be at a premium for Thursday’s knockout clash.
England beat Pakistan after scoring 9-337 batting first on the same track on Saturday but now the absence of any live grass should make scoring more difficult the second time around.
"It does look like it's probably going to spin a bit more than some of the other wickets – which is the same for both teams," Pat Cummins told reporters on match eve. "It might just be a slightly different paced game, but I think it's still pretty evenly matched."
Both teams appeared surprised upon inspecting the surface on Tuesday; Steve Smith exchanged friendly words with the curator, while Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi appeared to walk away signalling the possibility of extra turn.
It comes amid claims of a pitch switch at India's request in the other semi-final in Mumbai that have soured the lead-in to the tournament’s standout team’s match against New Zealand.
Another factor for the Australians in Kolkata is the possibility of inclement weather forecast for Thursday. Meteorologists have flagged the possibility of a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal becoming a cyclone.
A reserve day is in place in case the minimum of 20 overs per team cannot be achieved on Thursday, though playing through to Friday would give the victor little time to rest ahead of Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad.
"It's always hard to judge. It seems to change a little bit and one website tells you something and another one tells you the opposite," said Cummins.
"I guess it's something to think about but, I mean, you can't forward-plan too much with the weather. We'll turn up, expect to play a 50-over match tomorrow, if any of that shifts on us, I'm sure in real time we can adjust as needed.
"It feels like it hasn't really rained here for the last couple of months so to see the weather for two days looking like it is, that’s not ideal.
"But in terms of a short turnaround, it's fine. We've played lots of ODIs where you're playing on Friday, flying to a different city playing on the Sunday, it's not too big of a deal."
What is a big deal for Australia is their selectors finally having a full 15-player squad to pick from.
That was confirmed as Glenn Maxwell was cleared to play after he had a medical scan on his right hamstring on Tuesday.
Maxwell has not played since his miracle double-ton against Afghanistan last week but had a long hit at training 48 hours before the semi-final.
It leaves Australia with a decision to make on their team, with room seemingly for only one of Labuschagne and Marcus Stoinis.
Labuschagne was originally left out of a preliminary 18-man squad for this tournament, but surged back into contention with strong performances in the lead-in. He has since played every game of the tournament, turning in a number of important innings and standing out as one of the World Cup's best fielders.
Stoinis on the other hand has been in and out of the team due to fitness concerns. His strike rate at this World Cup (112.98) has been down, but he provides a stronger finishing option than Labuschagne (strike rate of 77.08) and the Australians value the versatility of his bowling.
The possibility of the Proteas playing two spinners in Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj, as they did in their 134-run group-stage win over Australia last month in Lucknow, might give the skilful Labuschagne another edge.
"With the allrounders, someone like say ‘Stoin’ at number seven, that's giving you valuable overs, but then also is a really aggressive finisher to the innings," said Cummins.
"You're weighing that up against maybe a middle-order batter if you think the bowling might not come into it as much and maybe the runs are to be had through the middle overs rather than blasting at the end.
"They're the things we've got to weigh up. I don't think there's a wrong or right answer. We've got a class squad of people here that feel like we can step in at any time."
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
2023 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