The second semi-final match of the World Cup 2023 was played between Australia vs South Africa on 16 November at the Eden Garden Stadium in Kolkata. The match took place in a very exciting manner. But in the end, Australia won and ensured their place in the final. Whereas South Africa’s journey ended in the semi-finals itself.
Australia’s batsmen had to struggle a lot to win this match. However, in the end, Australia won by three wickets and made it to the World Cup final for the eighth time. Pat Cummins looked very happy after the victory. However, before playing the final he made a big statement on the Indian team.
Pat Cummins admitted making a big statement on India:
After defeating South Africa by 3 wickets, captain Pat Cummins looked nervous about the match against India.
He said, “I think it was easier to be there than sitting in the dugout. There was nervousness for a few hours but it was good to get the result. It was not expected that Starc and Hazlewood would bowl so quickly. We knew it would spin later but it was a bit cloudy so we were not too disappointed about bowling first.
Some of us have played in finals before, and some others have played in T20 World Cup finals, the stadium will be packed, mostly one-sided. The 2015 World Cup was one of the highlights of my career, I never thought I would play another World Cup final in India.”
Australia won the match by three wickets:
In this match, South Africa, who came to bat first after winning the toss, had a very bad start. Africa’s top order completely collapsed. However, David Miller, who came to bat in the lower middle order, played a brilliant inning of 101 runs with the help of 5 sixes and 8 fours.
Apart from him, Heinrich Klaasen also contributed 48 runs, due to which South Africa could score 212 runs. Australia had to struggle a lot while chasing the target. Despite getting a good start, Australia lost the match in 47.2 overs. Travis Head scored the most runs for Australia. He played an inning of 62 runs.
Important contribution of Pat Cummins:
Captain Pat Cummins showed a brilliant performance in this match. He targeted 3 South African batsmen by spending 51 runs in his 9.4 overs spell. Apart from this, he played an unbeaten inning of 14 runs for the team. His innings came at a time when the team had lost 7 wickets. However, in the end, he sealed his ticket to the final by hitting a four.
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