🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: 2 Semi-Final: Australia vs South Africa 🏏 - Page 98

Congratulations to everyone who got 2nd highest!!!👏👏

Chalo sab 19 ke baad kya kar rahe ho?

What a game! Fitting of a semi-final? You bet! It ends in heartbreak for South Africa and their record in World Cup knockouts continues to look bleak and the juggernaut that are Australia march on to the final with their 8th successive win for the competition. The thrills and the spills, this game had it all. The scorecard might not tell you that if you come back to this game later but it was a nail-biter in every sense of the word. South Africa fought hard, they fought valiantly and tirelessly but it just wasn't enough to go past Australia. The fact that South Africa took the game this deep with just 212 on the board deserves a lot of credit in itself but at the end of the day, they cannot hide from the fact that 212 was at least 20-30 runs short on this surface. Head and Warner got Australia off to a flier and the work they did at the top of the order could well have made all the difference. It was Markram that broke the stand and Maharaj got rid of the dangerous Head to bring South Africa back into the game and it kept oscillating between the two sides ever since. Shamsi and Maharaj found extensive turn and Labuschagne and Maxwell fell in quick succession to leave Australia on 119/5.

One more disappointing exit for the Africans. Arghhh. 🥺😩

Originally posted by: 1t1svat1t1s

Thank you for being a sport. I just got reminded of how Ravi Shastri always comments about who was coming next in the line up whenever an Indian batsman is scoring well and how it just annoys the heck out of us.

That may be his way of boasting how well he knows the players as he was once their coach

But that's when Josh Inglis came out and played probably the most important knock of his career yet. He batted brilliantly along with Smith who was at the other end and the duo stitched a crucial partnership. They were patient against the spinners and soaked up all the pressure while displaying exemplary technique. Just when it looked like Australia would cruise home, Gerald Coetzee struck double blows to send jitters into the Australians camp. Bowling 8 overs on the trot in sweltering heat, Coetzee mustered up courage and energy to first dismiss Smith and then Inglis. But it was skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc that held their nerve till the end to take Australia home and to their 8th World Cup final.

But India vs aus...It's tough.

Dil (dar ke naate) jor se dhak dhak kar raha hai abhise mera...😢

Did Rabada have a niggle? The fact that he didn't bowl towards the end suggested that he wasn't fully fit. A lot of things will plague South Africa when they look back on this game. Firstly, they didn't quite apply themselves well enough with the bat. Then there were numerous half chances that they simply had to hold on to while defending such a small total. Jansen and Rabada were unpardonably indisciplined too right at the start, they leaked too many runs and conceded too many extras and that set the tone for Australia. What if Bavuma had introduced spin earlier? What if Rabada was fully fit? What if de Kock had held on to that nick off Cummins right at the end? Unfortunately, as impressive as it's been, that's how their campaign will end - what if?

Travis Head | Player of the Match: Hard to unpack all of that. Tensed finish, amazing game. Didn't move from the seat for the last. We knew how it was going to play, we had three or four days here. We haven't seen such spin, we knew we had to battle. I thought I wasn't going to be here (after the hand injury), but I am happy to contribute for Australia, nice to be here. Straight as they came. He (Klaasen) smacked me, was under the pump, but it was nice to get his wicket. I was prepared to bowl a few overs, always keen to contribute with the ball. We have had that positive approach to keep the pace rolling. Disappointed for the way I got out, that (vs Maharaj) was a match up against a left-arm spinner, but wasn't to be. It's an unbelievable attack, their bowlers look sharp and they have been one of the best teams in the competition, never dreamed of playing a World Cup final against them.

Temba Bavuma: Cannot put it into words, first of all congratulations to Australia. Good luck to them in the final. They played really well today. Our character came through today. We should a lot of resilience. The way we started with the bat and the ball was the telling point, that's where we lost the game. The conditions combined with the quality of their attack was it, they really put us under pressure. You're always going to struggle to put up a competitive total when you're 24/4. We were gaining some momentum when Miller and Klaasen were out there but unfortunately he couldn't carry on a bit longer. Miller's innings was superb, really highlights the character of the entire team, it was extraordinary to do that in such a pressure situation and in a world cup Semi-final. They got 70-odd in the first 10 and that really allowed the rest of the guys to settle. Markram and Maharaj were fantastic and they really put them under pressure. We had chances, tough chances that we put down, it could've been a bit close had we held on to them.

Spare a thought for Quinton de Kock too, his ODI career comes to an end with that.