South Africa have picked two spinners in Kolkata as both sides lock in their semi-final XIs
Labuschagne in as South Africa choose to bat in semi final
Marnus Labuschagne has gotten the nod to play the World Cup semi-final against South Africa, edging out Marcus Stoinis for the final spot in Australia's XI as Temba Bavuma won a crucial toss and elected to bat.
It leaves Australia bowling first on a used Kolkata pitch excepted to take turn, with Labsuchagne's slower but steadier batting preferred over Marcus Stoinis' explosive finishing and death bowling.
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, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc have returned as expected after both missed the Aussies' final group-stage match last week, with Sean Abbott and Stoinis dropping out.
South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma has been passed fit to play despite admitting he is still not 100 per cent fit after picking up a hamstring injury in their final group match last week.
He will be able to call on two spinners, with Tabraiz Shamsi edging out paceman Lungi Ngidi in the only change to the Proteas XI.
Both sides are bracing for a rain-affected contest that will decide who plays India in Ahmedabad on Sunday after the undefeated tournament hosts beat New Zealand.
The entire Eden Gardens playing area was covered by white rain sheets when the teams arrived at the ground on Thursday, laid down despite a dry morning in anticipation of showers predicted for the afternoon.
A reserve day is in place, when the match can continue if a minimum of 20 overs per side are not achieved, but the forecast is even worse for Friday.
Labuschagne has played every match for Australia in this tournament despite initially being left out entirely of an 18-man preliminary squad for the tournament.
The 29-year-old shone in bilateral campaigns leading into the World Cup, first earning a spot in the final 15-man squad and then holding his spot through the group stage as Australia weathered a succession of injuries to their top order.
Stoinis was among those to go in and out of the side due to fitness concerns. Now with the full squad available for the tournament, the allrounder has been the one to make way for the crunch match.
South Africa hold a strong recent record against the Aussies in 50-over cricket, winning all but three of their 19 ODIs against them.
Yet they have never beaten Australia in a knockout World Cup match, having lost semi-finals in 1999 and 2007.
Cummins, one of seven members of today's XI who played in the Aussies' 2015 World Cup-winning squad, said his side knows how to handle pressure.
"We've been in these positions before and come out the other side, so when it gets a little bit tight and there's a bit of pressure, there's a lot of experience we can draw on," said the skipper.
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