Rivals ready for semi-final as South Africa battle Australia in Kolkata
Date and venue
Thursday 16 November, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Summary
A mouth-watering clash awaits in Kolkata, as two in-form and evenly matched sides of the highest quality meet in a knockout encounter that will determine who progresses through to Sunday's tournament decider.
Both teams lost just twice during the group stage of the tournament, with South Africa falling to India and the Netherlands and Australia losing to the Proteas as well as the tournament hosts.
It was a one-sided affair when the two combatants played in Lucknow more than a month ago, with Quinton de Kock's century propelling South Africa to a comfortable 134-run victory.
Australia are playing with much more confidence now, with Glenn Maxwell's heroics with the bat against Afghanistan earlier this month and Adam Zampa's dream run with the ball among their many highlights of the tournament so far.
While South Africa were skittled for just 83 by India when they played at the famous Eden Gardens venue earlier this month, a high-scoring encounter can be expected this time around with the Proteas and Australia possessing plenty of strength among their batting order.
It means the toss could be vital in determining who comes out on top, with both sides likely to be keen to show off their strong top six and post a large score while batting first.
It is this stage of the event that Australia overpowered South Africa at the 1999 and 2007 editions of the World Cup and Pat Cummins' side will be hoping to inflict more pain on the Proteas.
But Temba Bavuma's charges have already proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with at this tournament and should not be underestimated in anyway.
An epic encounter looms.
Squads
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
The venue
The Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000.
Key players
South Africa – Quinton de Kock
The left-hander has been super impressive at this World Cup, having scored four centuries from nine innings while amassing an impressive total of 591 runs to be among the leading run scorers at the tournament.
De Kock smashed a brilliant 108 against the Aussies during the group stage in Lucknow and the opener will be pivotal to the Proteas' top-order once again.
Australia – David Warner
With a total of 499 runs to his name and an imposing average north of 50 for the tournament, Warner has put together yet another strong World Cup for his country.
Warner was undone by Lungi Ngidi and dismissed for just 13 when the teams met earlier in the tournament and you can be assured the experienced left-hander will be keen to atone here.
South Africa – Marco Jansen
Not many quicks have been as effective as Jansen at this year's edition of the World Cup, with the tall left-armer having picked up a total of 17 wickets for the tournament at an impressive average of 24.41.
Many of his scalps have come during the first 10 overs and Australia must be very wary of the threat of the in-form pacer in the Powerplay.
Australia – Adam Zampa
No bowler at the tournament has more wickets than the 22 that Zampa has accumulated and, at times, the experienced spinner has boarded on being unplayable for opposition batters.
Zampa has his wrong'un working a treat and South Africa's strong batting line-up will need to be at their best to quell the threat of the in-form leg-spinner.
