(Cricket News) South Africa and Australia are set to face each other at the Eden Gardens in the second semi-final of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The last time these two teams faced each other in the semi-final of the ODI World Cup, Australia beat South Africa in a tied encounter.

What to Expect

South Africa have been phenomenal this World Cup, winning seven out of their nine matches with an astounding net run rate +1.261. Their scores batting first in this World Cup are 428, 311, 399 and 382. The only match they lost was against Netherlands and India. It will be interesting to see how South Africa will fare when batting second in a slow and sluggish pitch, as they looked uncomfortable chasing 326 against India the last time they played in the Eden Gardens.

Australia is coming to this semi-final winning 7 straight matches in a row. Unlike South Africa, Australia has a great record of batting first and chasing. They have a score to settle against South Africa as they lost to them earlier in the group stage. It will be interesting to see how they chase a target against South Africa, as the Proteas are known to set huge targets while batting first.

Match timings

Match toss time: 13:30 IST (11:00 GMT)

Match start time: 14:00 IST (11:30 GMT)

Match venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Head-to-Head

Matches played: 109. South Africa: 55. Australia: 50. N/R: 3. Tied: 1.

Notable Stats

Highest Run Scorer: David Warner (1126 Runs)

Highest Wicket Taker: Kagiso Rabada (29 Wickets)

Weather Conditions: 27°C, Cloudy

Average first inning score: 155 runs

Team News and Probable Playing XI

South Africa: 

Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lizaad Williams.

Australia:

David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (WK), Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa.

Predictions

SpogoNews predicts South Africa will beat Pakistan and get 10 points on the board.

See also: Mohammad Hafeez Named Director of Pakistan Cricket Team.