South Africa v Australia: Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final – live | Cricket World Cup 2023

sixteenth over: Australia 114-2 (Smith 9, Labuschagne 5) Potentially a HUGE second on this chase as Shamsi spins one into Labuschagne with the batter hanging again within the crease. The ball hits the pad and South Africa very very like the look of it! It is given Not Out on the sector however they ship it upstairs instantly. Close! The ball was smashing into the stumps however Marnus survives on umpires name because the ball simply hit him exterior the road of off stump as he shuffled throughout his stumps. A frenetic first hour of this chase and the gamers take drinks. Make mine a double! (Alas, tea).

fifteenth over: Australia 109-2 (Smith 9, Labuschagne 2) Marnus replaces Travis Head and along with his departure and the arrival of those two it is going to be demise by a thousand nurdles for South Africa except they preserve taking wickets. Maharaj appears harmful, simply three singles collected off his over. Australia want 104 runs, South Africa want 7 wickets.

WICKET! Head b Maharaj 62 (Australia 106-3)

14th over: Australia 104-2 (Head 62, Smith 8) Tabraiz Shamsi is given the nod, surprisingly no signal of Maharaj but. Me both. Drop! Another drop! Shamsi takes the sting off a poke from Head and the ball bursts via the palms of Klaasen within the slips. Gah! South Africa can’t afford these missed possibilities. 100 up for the Aussies.

thirteenth over: Australia 98-2 (Head 55, Smith 7) Head flays Markram via the covers for 4. Six off the over, practically 100 up for Australia – wanting terminal for the Proteas.

twelfth over: Australia 92-2 (Head 54, Smith 2) Coetzee comes on to exchange Rabada. His first ball is brief and outdoors off stump, Travis Head golf equipment within the air and is DROPPED*. Noooooo! You can’t try this Reeza Hendricks. Tricky likelihood however Hendricks bought two palms to it diving forwards. They are at all times the toughest to take however my South Africa wanted that. Salt meet Wound. Head then muscle tissues the following three ball for consecutive fours! The Walrus tach’d opener is seeing it like a beachball – bunting down the bottom and hacking via mid-wicket. FIFTY for Travis Head – off simply 40 balls.

*Talking of drops – we’ve all been there – haven’t we? This is a beautiful piece that has simply gone on-line, initially in The Nightwatchman.

eleventh over: Australia 77-2 (Head 40, Smith 1) Markram continues and will get away with simply three singles off the over. Steve Smith will get a fortunate inside edge off a full ball to get off the mark.

Batted, Davey.

tenth over: Australia 74-2 (Head 38, Smith 0) Power play full. At this stage South Africa have been 18-2. Ahh. Head drives Rabada down the bottom for 4 after which scampers a single to level. Steve Smith is then crushed on the surface edge by Rabada however there’s nay wooden on it.

ninth over: Australia 68-2 (Head 33, Smith 0) Markram is given one other over after making the essential breakthrough final over. Head drops to his knees (and toes, and toes. Sorry.) and sweeps powerfully for… SIX! Head goes to maintain taking it on, if he bats for a number of extra overs on this vein then Australia shall be close to sufficient even when he will get out.

eighth over: Australia 61-2 (Head 26, Smith 0) Steve Smith is the brand new batter. Are we going to see one thing unbelievable right here? Two extra fast wickets would make this preety preeety attention-grabbing.

WICKET! Mitchell Marsh c van der Dussen b Rabada 0 (Australia 61-2)

WICKET! David Warner b Markram 29 (Australia 60-1)

sixth over: Australia 39-0 (Head 17, Warner 18) Travis Head and David Warner are marmalising South Africa at Eden Gardens. An enormous 21 runs are slammed off the over, Kagiso Rabada the chastened man as Warner slogs him for six again over his head and it seems the bowler has overstepped within the course of – FREE HIT. Yep – Warner slots the freebie for SIX. Warner jumps throughout the crease like a person who has trodden on a canine tail in a pub beer backyard and scoops the complete supply for a most into the stands. Rabada tries a scrambled seam supply and it’s picked up early by Head who dispatches it over cow nook for one more SIX.

Next cease Ahmedabad and India for the Aussies, barring one thing really ridiculous.

fifth over: Australia 39-0 (Head 17, Warner 18) Cripes. Things are unravelling shortly right here for South Africa. Marco Jansen is slapped for 15 runs off the over, Travis Head golf equipment two fours down the bottom however the true intestine punch is David Warner’s dismissive flick for SIX off a size ball. Jansen appears like he might cry. Brutal.

4th over: Australia 24-0 (Head 9, Warner 11) Warner smites Rabada excessive and lengthy over sq. leg for an enormous six! The TV clocks it as 87 metres but it surely regarded double that from my vantage level on a settee in south London. Rabada does properly to restrict the harm to only seven runs off the over.

Here’s me outdated mucka Mark Beadle:

“Afternoon James, is this a good time to remind everyone that it wasn’t that long ago that Afg had Aus 91-7? How soon do we think spin will play its part?”

South Africa have the primary ranked ODI bowler within the phrase within the form of Keshav Maharaj, i’d be turning to him very quickly to try to make one thing occur right here.

third over: Australia 17-0 (Head 8, Warner 5) Marco Jansen is feeling the warmth right here, he’s carved over level for 4 by Warner after which sends down three gigantic wides that de Kock does remarkably properly to forestall gifting three boundaries to the Aussies. The SA keeper throwing himself round behind the timbers like a greased up Peter Bonetti. One for the children. South Africa already virtually determined for a wicket.

2nd over: Australia 10-0 (Head 8, Warner 1) Rabada lifts one into Warner’s bat deal with, the ball squirts to gully and so they take a single. Close! Head flashes at a size ball and the sting flies extensive of the slips and away for 4. Live and die by the sword eh Trav.

1st over: Australia 5-0 (Head 4, Warner 0) Travis Head reveals his intent from the off, throwing the kitchen sink, toaster, kettle and fridge at a wide-ish supply from Jansen’s second ball that lands simply contained in the rope. Jansen hangs his head however his teammates give him a gee up. Head tries the identical to the following ball however connects solely with contemporary air. Close! Jansen jags one again that misses the stumps by the width of a Rizzla. A really extensive ball down the leg facet presents Australia one other run. Five off the primary over.

Ben Bernards is on the wires:

“I don’t think either SA nor AU are really *that* good and as a Kiwi, I would not say NZ were worth any more than another quite satisfactory semi-final finish. Conclusion? a) Yes, SA could absolutely roar back from here and win the game. B) Whoever wins is surely just cannon fodder in the final for the only side that in any way deserves the mantle of World Champ.”

These first overs are HUGE. The gamers are heading out to the center, Warner and Head in canary yellow with bat in hand, the lissom-limbed Marco Jansen in darkish inexperienced with the brand new white orb. Big Marco owes his crew a wicket or two after his first ball duck to… Travis Head through the Proteas innings. PLAY!

Jim Wallace is ready to be tagged in for Australia’s runchase, so I’ll depart you with one other gem from the ever dependable Andy Zaltzman. Thanks in your firm and emails – bye!

David Miller’s verdict

It’s actually nice to get 100, however solely half the sport is finished. We fought on the finish and bought a … a good rating.

We know the pitch could be slower and it might flip. We have been at all times on the again foot after shedding 4 wickets within the Powerplay however we managed to salvage one thing on the again finish.

Hopefully we are able to get a few early wickets, get that run-rate up as fast as doable after which put some beneath stress with our spinners. I do suppose it’s a defendable rating.

Australia’s gamers stroll off proudly after a terrificperformance within the discipline. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood shredded the highest order in useful situations, lowering a spellbound South Africa to 24 for 4. But Heinrich Klaasen (47) and David Miller counter-attacked after a brief rain break, with Miller making a very sensible 101. The different 10 batters scored 100 between them.

South Africa’s complete feels gentle, however they’d have taken it at 24 for 4, and they are going to be inspired by some extravagant flip for Australia’s occasional offspinners Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head.

Before South Africa’s spinners enter the competition, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada want to withstand the inevitable onslaught from Head and David Warner. If South Africa take early wickets, the match might grow to be an epic.

WICKET! South Africa 212 all out (Rabada c Maxwell b Cummins 10)

forty ninth over: South Africa 209-9 (Rabada 9, Shamsi 0) A mark of Miller’s innings is that he has outscored all teammates 101 runs to 92. That doesn’t occur usually in a World Cup semi-final, actually not in a accomplished innings.

The final time it occurred, I feel, was when Sachin Tendulkar made 65 in opposition to Sri Lanka in 1996. Technically that innings wasn’t accomplished, however I doubt Vinod Kambli, Anil Kumble and Ventakesh Prasad would have made one other 20 between them. Kambli was a high quality participant, I do know, and Kumble might bat too, however India have been in such disarray that why the hell am I speculating on what would possibly occurred in a World Cup semi-final 27 years in the past when there’s a real-life one happening proper now.

Besides, South Africa aren’t performed but. Rabada hooks Starc excessive over backward sq. leg for six and takes a leg-bye to maintain the strike for the ultimate over. Starc ends a big-game spell with figures of 10-1-34-3.

forty eighth over: South Africa 203-9 (Rabada 3, Shamsi 0) Cummins greets Shamsi with a nasty brief ball, then virtually cleans him up with a yorker that simply misses off stump. Shamsi survives the over, which is the perfect he can do.

WICKET! South Africa 203-9 (Miller c Head b Cummins 101)

DAVID MILLER HITS A MARVELLOUS CENTURY!

forty seventh over: South Africa 196-8 (Miller 95, Rabada 3) Starc nails his yorker to maintain Miller to a single. Rabada performs his half, ignoring a large and clipping a few runs to leg. Most importantly of all, he will get nothing off the ultimate supply, which suggests Miller can have strike firstly of the following over. He most likely must deal in even numbers from right here. Apart from the final ball of the following over clearly.

“Like you said, the balance of power and disparities in teams’ levels mean that a ‘perfect’ World Cup format probably doesn’t exist at the moment,” says Matt Dony. “So why not try and level the playing field, and go full Krypton Factor? Sure, Kohli might be the greatest ODI batter ever, but can he land a plane in the simulation? Warner is in a destructive vein of form, but how’s his general knowledge? The England side would probably have excelled at the obstacle course, pushing them up a few places. We’d all watch that!”

For our non-British readership, that is what the hell Matt Dony is speaking about.

WICKET! South Africa 191-8 (Maharaj c Smith b Starc 4)

forty sixth over: South Africa 190-7 (Miller 94, Maharaj 4) Miller’s rating is the very best by a South African in a males’s World Cup semi-final, passing Faf du Plessis’ 82 in opposition to New Zealand in 2015.

He strikes into the nineties with a ferocious, superbly positioned pull for 4 off Cummins. It’s been an exemplary innings, one that can develop into career-defining if South Africa discover a option to win. And cricket is a humorous outdated sport, as a result of Miller was very near being caught at slip for a golden duck.

“Keeping well old bean?” says David Bowen. “I was just speaking to a customer who is South African and he was hopping with rage. ‘From not knowing the Duckworth Lewis rule correctly to dropping catches, they always freeze at the semi-finals. They can’t seem to get it over the line despite playing well in the group’. I replied, ‘South Africa are the Tottenham Hotspur of cricket’. The response suggested I’d probably overstepped the customer-supplier boundary (no pun intended, unless you like it, in which case it is intended).”

forty fifth over: South Africa 182-7 (Miller 88, Maharaj 2) Zampa continues, a captivating choice for which he’ll be closely criticised if Australia lose. Miller heaves the primary ball for 4, however as soon as once more Zampa pulls the over again impressively: 420101.

forty fourth over: South Africa 174-7 (Miller 81, Maharaj 1) Oh good lord, we’ve bought one other addition to South Africa’s World Cup tales of woe. Coetzee didn’t glove the ball in any respect – it hit his arm earlier than being caught by Inglis.

Coetzee did focus on a evaluate with Miller however neither participant was certain. And as a result of Marco Jansen wasted an earlier evaluate, they determined to not danger the final one.

WICKET! South Africa 172-7 (Coetzee c Inglis b Cummins 19)

forty third over: South Africa 171-6 (Miller 79, Coetzee 19) A courageous transfer from Pat Cummins, which is an odd factor to say when he’s recalling his greatest bowler. But David Miller has an distinctive ODI report in opposition to Adam Zampa – 150-odd runs, no dismissals – so it’s a dangerous transfer, even when Zampa is sensible at making batters fall on their sword.

Miller launches a flat straight six, his fourth off Zampa on this innings, however the remainder of the over is basically good. Seven off it in complete.

forty second over: South Africa 164-6 (Miller 72, Coetzee 19) Starc off, Cummins on. Miller smacks two to deep cowl, the place Warner once more fields like a 20-year-old. Cummins goes to his slower balls, three in a row, and Miller can’t get them away. Four from the over.

Since you requested, Australia have been 165/6 at this stage in 1999. Come on, that’s fairly eerie.

“For T20 WCs, they tend to have a ‘pre-tournament’ for the lesser lights, but which is technically still part of the wider thing,” says Patrick Brennan. “Why not have:

• 8 automated qualifiers (at all times together with host/s)

• 2/4 remaining areas determined by pre-qualifying, during which the following eight highest-ranking groups are cut up into two teams of 4, play one another and the winners/prime two qualify

• 10/12 groups in the primary World Cup, with two teams of 5/six. Top two of every group qualify for the semi-finals.

“Total – 35/45 games; max five and a half weeks (40 days or so).”

With Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger narrating the official videeo. Your plan would virtually actually make for a greater match, but it surely feels a bit Nations League. For no specific purpose I like World Cups which might be neat and symmetrical.

forty first over: South Africa 160-6 (Miller 69, Coetzee 19) Miller and Coetzee collide whereas taking a single, however fortunately for South Africa it doesn’t descend into farce, with each males on all fours in the course of the pitch, Miller making an attempt to crawl previous Coetzee to make sure he isn’t the person who’s run out.

Four singles from Head’s over. He and Zampa each have 5 lieft.

“In Nasser’s analysis of England’s performance (I know this isn’t about them but please bear with me) he suggested that they were exhausted after a gruelling home summer particularly the Ashes,” says Digvijay Yadav. “Well, surely that should also afflict the Australians? Since they have the same coach and captain in this format.

“Athers suggested that England struggle to prioritise both red ball and white ball cricket simultaneously. Again, from 2019-21, NZ reached the final of both white ball global events and won the WTC. This year we might have the same finalists for both the WTC and the WC. Again, why should that be an issue?”

It’s partly as a result of England play extra cricket, although that doesn’t clarify why it’s such a recurring downside. It was the identical when Eoin Morgan’s ODI crew and Michael Vaughan’s Test crew excelled. Even when England dominated Test cricket within the Nineteen Fifties, they didn’t win a single white-ball match.

fortieth over: South Africa 156-6 (Miller 67, Coetzee 18) Maxwell shakes his head ruefully after being Miller once more. He ends one other helpful spell with figures of 10-0-35-0.

At this stage of the well-known 1999 semi-final, the crew batting first have been 158 for six. Maybe we misinterpreted the large man earlier within the day.

thirty ninth over: South Africa 154-6 (Miller 66, Coetzee 17) Mitchell Starc replaces Maxwell, who has one over remaining. He begins arond the wicket to Coetzee, who lasers a drive via further cowl for 4. That’s a terrific shot.

The size of South Africa’s tail on this match has most likely been overplayed. Coetzee, Maharaj and Rabada can all bat. It helps that they’re enjoying all three at present; in some video games they’ve had two No11s in Shamsi and Ngidi. Afternoon Ollie.

thirty eighth over: South Africa 149-6 (Miller 66, Coetzee 12) Miller drags Maxwell over midwicket for one more 4, a great shot moderately than a poor ball. In his two World Cup semi-finals he has scored 115 runs off 104 balls, so he’s exempt from any criticism.

So, in the interim, is Coetzee, who’s enjoying a smart supporting function. South Africa are inching in the direction of a aggressive rating.

thirty seventh over: South Africa 141-6 (Miller 60, Coetzee 10) A statbox reveals that Head, a part-time finger-spinner, is getting 4.3 levels of flip, probably the most at this World Cup. Just two singles from Head’s fourth over.

The means it’s turning means South Africa are nonetheless on this contest. I feel.

thirty sixth over: South Africa 139-6 (Miller 59, Coetzee 9) Maxwell undoes a terrific over with a half-tracker that Miller belabours via midwicket for 4. He screams with frustration at making a gift of such an affordable boundary.

The different concern for South Africa is that, no matter goal they set, the ultra-aggressive pair of Travis Head and David Warner might finish the competition earlier than the spinners on. It’s a captivating battle; we’re on the candy spot the place it’s doable to envisage a crushing win for one crew, a nerve-shredding win for the opposite or something in between.

thirty fifth over: South Africa 134-6 (Miller 55, Coetzee 8) A flighted half-volley from Head is spanked to the duvet boundary by Coetzee. Later within the over Miller is crushed by a ripper, the sort of supply Muttiah Muralitharan would have fortunately known as his personal. If Travis Head is doing that, Keshav Maharaj – the world’s No1 bowler – ought to have exceedingly moist lips.

“What’s the best format possible for a World Cup?” says Arul Kanhere. “Given it should ensure enough jeopardy and an increased number of teams while finishing in under 30 days.”

I might begin with the best that no crew ought to be capable to lose greater than two video games and nonetheless win the competitors, then work again from there. I suppose that will imply 4 teams of 4, which can by no means occur for obv£io$ causes. And even 4 teams of 4 isn’t excellent. As in rugby, the present steadiness of energy makes it very tough to discover a good format.

thirty fourth over: South Africa 129-6 (Miller 55, Coetzee 3) With Coetzee getting his eye in, Maxwell hurries via one other over. One ball turns sharply to hit Coetzee simply exterior the road; the following goes straight on to take the sting and fly previous Inglis for a single. It’s spinning on the market.

thirty third over: South Africa 125-6 (Miller 54, Coetzee 2) Travis Head skids one previous Coetzee’s exterior edge. Two from the over, which was accomplished in about two minutes. That’s drinks.

thirty second over: South Africa 125-6 (Miller 53, Coetzee 1) Now Maxwell will get one to rag previous Miller’s exterior edge. There’s a stumping referral after good work from Inglis, however Miller’s again foot went nowhere. South Africa have two correct spinners plus Aidan Markram, so even a modest rating of round 200 is perhaps aggressive. They’ll remorse it eternally in the event that they fold for 150-odd.

Their greatest hope of reaching a half-decent rating is David Miller. He lashes Maxwell via further cowl for 4 to succeed in an aggressive, fiercely decided half-century from 70 balls.

thirty first over: South Africa 119-6 (Miller 48, Coetzee 0) Coetzee survives the hat-trick ball, one other massive offbreak. Head turned it extra in that over than Zampa and Maxwell mixed, which suggests Keshav Maharaj shall be South Africa’s key bowler.

Klaasen shall be filthy about his dismissal. He’s such a great participant of spin and had spanked 25 off the earlier 13 deliveries. And then he went and spoiled all of it by doing one thing silly like lacking a straight one.

Jansen pushed exterior the road of an enormous offbreak that hit him on the kneeroll in entrance of off stump. He reviewed apologetically, virtually sheepishly, and replays confirmed what he already knew: it was hitting leg stump and South Africa lose a evaluate. More to the purpose, Travis Head is on a World Cup semi-final hat-trick!

WICKET! South Africa 119-6 (Jansen LBW b Head 0)

WICKET! South Africa 119-5 (Klaasen b Head 47)

thirtieth over: South Africa 111-4 (Klaasen 39, Miller 48) “There’s so many complaints from Joe Punter about the tournament format,” says Ben Bernards. “Would some of those complainers like to put in writing their preferred format, and which ills it would remedy? There are at any given moment six teams – at best – who have any realistic chance of winning the big cup, and we saw here that England and Pakistan were never at the races.

“With such a miserable diet of ODI cricket being played, you can’t realistically base a two-group stage on rankings or you could quite feasibly end up with your big guns lumped into the same side of the draw. It’s grumbling for the sake of it IMO until some bright spark shows me the light of their superior proposal.”

If you’ll find a time machine I’ll return to 2003 and ask Martin Williamson. I agree that the steadiness of superb/good groups makes this awkward, however the league stage is just too lengthy and doesn’t have sufficient jeopardy. Dammit, man, give me jeopardy.

twenty ninth over: South Africa 108-4 (Klaasen 37, Miller 47) Smith misses a run-out likelihood. Klaasen took a dodgy single to mid-off and was simply brief when Smith’s throw flashed previous the stumps. Klaasen collided with Zampa afterwards, and there’s a brief break in play whereas he receives therapy. He’s high quality.

Zampa, not a lot. He bowls a excessive full toss that’s blootered over midwicket for six by Miller. Zampa has been unusually ragged, most likely as a result of he’s aware of his poor head-to-head data in opposition to Klaasen and Miller. Figures of 5-0-40-0 received’t enhance it.

twenty eighth over: South Africa 100-4 (Klaasen 36, Miller 40) Maxwell modifications ends and is milked for 5 runs. It’s attention-grabbing that South Africa are going after the specialist spinner moderately than the second in command. I suppose they’ve completely satisfied reminiscences of batting in opposition to Zampa.

twenty seventh over: South Africa 95-4 (Klaasen 35, Miller 35) Zampa replaces Maxwell, who raced via a spell of 3-0-4-0 – and Klaasen jumps throughout him with successive sixes. Both deliveries have been solely barely brief, however Klaasen rocked again to maul them over midwicket.

This is an admirable response to excessive adversity from Klaasen and Miller, who’ve added 71 in 15 overs.

twenty sixth over: South Africa 81-4 (Klaasen 22, Miller 35) Cummins switches across the wicket to Miller, who clatters a pair via the covers. Batting appears extra comfy now, and South Africa will always be revising what they suppose is a aggressive rating.

“Rob, why is it you dislike ODIs as a format?” says Isaac Forster. “For me they strike a good balance between the ridiculous T20 and Hundred thrash and the more circumspect aspects of Tests. If a bowler is on a tear an ODI has enough time to allow the batters to defend and rebuild later. Similarly as bowlers have more overs to use, the skipper can match their bowlers up more effectively with an opposition’s individual batters, to limit their damage. The only format change I would make is to ditch the two new balls and go back to one, to reintroduce reverse swing at the back end of an innings.”

Sorry, I meant I dislike the World Cup format during which all of the groups play one another. An excellent ODI, whether or not a pageant of boundaries or a sub-250 dogfight, could be a pleasure. I like Ricky Ponting’s concept re: the balls. Use two new ones to keep up the hardness however change to a single ball after 35 overs to allow reverse.