Cricket analysts say that South Africa is the "Chockers" team.South Africa is perhaps the only team to reach the semi-finals five times and never reach the final.South Africa have scored 400 plus runs in almost every match in the previous matches of this World Cup but in the semi-finals they have had their worst performance.Had David Miller not scored a century in the semi-final, it might have caused a bigger disaster for South Africa.One thing I noticed is that if Australia reach the semi-final or the final they become more formidable and every player of theirs performs well.
Now all eyes are on the final match whether Australia can win their sixth World Cup while India can win their third ODI World Cup.
Team balance is simply not there in South Africa. Out of form players are pushed in just because of the quota system. The problem is that when one such player is pushed in, that results in poor performance not just from that player, but other players also come under pressure and perform poorly. One example is that of Temba Bavuma. His lack of form disrupted the balance of South African batting. Other batsmen such as Quinton de Kock are unable to play freely because Bavuma gets out usually during the initial powerplay and there is a need to stabilize the innings after that. |
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I think Turning Points for Spinners Shamsi crucial dismissals of Australian bastmen including Glenn Maxwell for a duck. South Africa Spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi 2-42 in a low scoring game and fast bowlers Coetzee 2 for 47 , causing trouble for Australia middle order bastmen. South Africa's early struggles, recording their lowest 10-over score in 15 years, but the Miller brilliant century, reached the South Africa total to 212. Australia top class bowler performance Wickets for Mitchell Starc 3-34 and Josh Hazlewood 2-12. Keshav Maharaj was the one who made Australian batsmen struggle. He ended up with figures of 10-0-24-1. He tied down the Aussie batsmen and also picked up the crucial wicket of Travis Head (top-scorer for Australia yesterday). Tabraiz Shamsi picked up two wickets, but he has expensive. And it was perplexing to see Marco Jansen not being used. He only bowled 4.2 overs. So far in this tournament, he was the best bowler for South Africa and it was surprising to see him not being used during yesterday's match. |
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LOL.. Australia is wasting the advantage they had. South Africa were at 24/4, but now they have moved to 95/4. Adam Zampa has been hit for two consecutive sixes by Heinrich Klaasen. Zampa has so far conceded 32 runs from 4 overs. Perhaps they need to stick with the combination of Cummins and Maxwell. The Australian captain will be in a fix. He needs some quick wickets, but he has almost used up Starc and Hazlewood. Also, if there is another rain interruption, then the calculations can get really crazy.
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South Africa are called chokers for a reason. After fighting hard in group stages they are once again at the verge of elimination. Starc and Hazlewood just destroyed the top order batting lineup of South Africa, 44/4 in 14 overs. I don't understand whats the benefit of playing so well at group stages if you have to do this in Semis? South Africa only hope is rain which has stopped the play right now. There must a reserve day for this semi final also but I don't know play on reserve day will resume from scratch or from where its interrupted.
Well.. the partnership between David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen has added 57 runs till now and South Africa are at 79/4 after 25 overs. Pat Cummins has been expensive till now, but Glenn Maxwell has kept things very tight from the other end. The problem for Australia is that their two main strike bowlers have already bowled most of their overs (Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have a combined 5 overs remaining). Adam Zampa have been ineffective today, so they need to stick with the combination of Maxwell-Cummins for some time. |
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Babar Azam step down as captain from all three formats and guess who has replaced him as captain? Shaheen Afridi will captain Pakistan in T20 while Shan Masood will captain Pakistan in Test format. Shaheen shah has a strong lobby in PCB who is backed by his father in law Shahid Afridi. Despte his poor performance in ODI World Cup he has given the role of captaincy in T20 format. Shan Masood who was not even part of Pakistan test team is now included as captain. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/babar-azam-resigns-as-pakistan-captain-in-all-formats-1408942I am not sure what good this can do to the Pakistani team. He will be replaced by whom? The most prominent name that I am hearing is that of Shaheen Shah Afridi, but I am quite skeptical about his role as the captain. Even as an opening bowler, there have been numerous occasions when he crumbled under pressure. I would rather go with someone with a bit more maturity, such as Fakhar Zaman or Mohammad Rizwan. At least I would prefer a batsman rather than one of the bowlers. Shaheen Shah needs more time to learn maturity. |
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Bavuma has been fail in all wc matches so far, himself during the toss said he's not completely fit and they are playing a semi game, how serious are they? Such a waste of slot, better Markram was given captainship and Reeza Hendricks replacing him.
At least Australia will give competitive game in finale.
LOL.. If he's not fit then he needs to sit out, right? Today also he got out for a duck. And quota system within the South African team means that he can't be replaced with a white player. In case he is dropped, then they need to include Andile Phehlukwayo in place of one of the bowlers in form (either Jansen or Coetzee). At this point, this is something unthinkable for South Africa. Anyway, they are at 46/4 now after 16 overs, with David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen at crease. Hazlewood has been called back to mop up the South African innings and at this point he has figures of 7-2-12-2. |
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@Belarge I don’t think that US has any advantage in this tournament because they don’t possess a squad of player’s that plays competitive football week after week. Furthermore I just hope that they at least put in a spirited display for their countrymen otherwise there’s a big possibility that they could be eliminated early in the tournament too and thus I don’t think that wagering on them makes sense just because they’re the hosts.
Well.. I agree that they are not as strong as France or Argentina. But they are currently ranked as the top team from CONCACAF Confederation. Also, let's not forget the fact that 84 out of a total of 104 matches in the FIFA World Cup of 2026 will be held in the United States. So obviously they will be having the home advantage as well. Well.. we are talking about 2026, so there is a good chance that they will slip down the rankings by then. But even then, opponents (especially those from the UEFA region) needs to be cautious about them. |
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no decider matches today, only Slovakia can mark their qualification with a point against Iceland at home, should not be missed
all other play just for fun, except for Hungary vs Bulgaria and Montenegro vs Lithuania, but chances for Montenegro to qualify are pure statistics, they need two wins, and to hope that others will lose their matches
solid odds on Luxembourg to win over Bosnia @2.7, playing home in a match that don't have much to offer other than rivalry
Two more matches remain for Luxembourg, Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They may not be able to overtake Slovakia for the 2nd position, but one of these teams have a chance of qualifying to the main tournament as better placed 3rd ranked team in the group. I would rather prefer Luxembourg, because I have never seen them playing in a major tournament. Iceland and Bosnia had their chances in the past. Liechtenstein is the weakest team in this group, and their remaining matches are against Portugal and Luxembourg. |
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South Africa vs Australia
South African captain Bavuma won the toss and decided to bat in the second semi-final match. We knew that South Africa would decide to bat if they won the toss. Because this team can bat well in the first innings, but their performance in the second innings is not good. Also the pitch at Eden Garden in Kolkata is batting friendly. I am expecting a high score in today's match.
South Africa lost the wicket of captain Bavuma in the first over. We have never seen a better performance from Bavuma in a World Cup match. However, the South African management made Bavuma the captain. Bavuma does not have the ability to be the opener of a team like South Africa.
It is probably the end of the tournament for Temba Bavuma. From 8 matches, he has a total of 145 runs to his name, at an average of 18.12 and he scored these runs at a pathetic run rate of 73.60. BTW, Aiden Markram is gone now and Heinrich Klaasen has come to join Rassie van der Dussen at the crease. South Africa looking in pathetic state at 22/3 after 11 overs. And so far it has been just Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Apart from these two, not even Pat Cummins has come to bowl for the Australians. Edit: South Africa at 24/4, with Rassie van der Dussen getting out to Hazlewood. Also, it looks like light rains are happening at the stadium. |
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There you go, they will bat first and try to get 400 runs as target. Australia will be struggling to chase that target unless they get the African batters out before they get to the big total.
I agree with you 100%. But you should know that cricket is a game, "where anything can happen at any time." It cannot be said if a batsman at number 7 or 9 can turn the game around. Best of luck Australian cricket team! LOL.. South Africa chose to bat first, and they are struggling at 17/2 after 9.3 overs. They have been completely demolished by the Australian pacers (Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc). Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma are back in pavilion already (in case of the latter, I am not even surprised). There is a very good chance that South Africa will be bowled out for a two-digit total. Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen are at the crease and they are really struggling. Rassie so far has just 5 runs to his name from 27 balls. |
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Today 2023 World Cup 2nd semi-final will be held and from here one team will go to final and other team will be out.South Africa has performed better than Australia in this World Cup.I want to favor South Africa in today's match as they thrashed Australia in the ODI series on their home soil before the World Cup.
It has been proven time and again that no team is weak in the World Cup.You are right South Africa have played many semi finals before but they can reach the final but looks like they will win against Australia today and reach their desired final.South Africa's batting has been in great form as they have amassed 400 plus runs in several matches and won the match with ease.Finally good luck to both the teams to give their good game and the audience can enjoy it.
The match will start in around 1.5 hours from now at the Eden Gardens. South Africa, despite the immense talent they possess has never reached the final of a ODI World Cup. 1999 was the turning point, when they lost the semi-finals to Australia after being so much overhyped. For today's match they will be the underdogs (unlike the situation in 1999), and that may relieve some pressure from them. It is going to be a very tight match for sure, unlike the one-sided encounter that we had yesterday between India and New Zealand. |
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Rohit Sharma really made a good start in the match. His performance was impressive so far in the tournament. The Indian side showed some explosive batting, setting a target of 398 runs for New Zealand. Unfortunately, the Blackcaps couldn't reach that total, thanks to Mohammed Shami's fantastic bowling. Mo Shami delivered a five-star performance, proving he's the best bowling machine India has right now. Congratulations to India for making it to the final. They're playing quality cricket, they're united and strong.
LOL.. so you were really expecting New Zealand to reach the target of 398? And that too against Indian bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav. Well... they had inform batsmen such as Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell. But when was the last time that New Zealand reached a team total of close to 400? The pitch at Wankhede was quite flat, and was supportive of the batsmen. Even then, a target of 398 was an almost impossible task. Kiwis needed a miracle and they didn't got any. |
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In this World Cup tournament, Rohit Sharma has been very successful by changing his game strategy. He is batting aggressively in the power play and this Indian batsman is able to give a good start to India in every match. Rohit Sharma is getting off to a good start in the powerplay, allowing him to bat with ease from top-order batsmen to middle-order batsmen. Rohit Sharma was not in good form even before the World Cup but he has been successful in this World Cup tournament by exploiting the power play opportunities. Rohit Sharma's name is in the list of top five run scorers in this World Cup tournament he has managed to score good amount of runs for the team despite playing an aggressive innings at the beginning.
Rohit and Virat have played in completely different styles so far in this tournament. Rohit is going all guns blazing, destroying the opposition bowlers during the initial powerplay. On the other hand, Virat has been more cautious and he has played an anchor role so far. A few people have already criticized Virat, saying that he is putting personal milestones ahead of the team. I would rather take a neutral stance on this. India has won all of their matches. So there is no truth in saying that Virat has harmed the team prospects in anyway. |
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Australia is the opponent of South Africa today in the second semi-final match of the World Cup. Former five-time World Cup winners Australia are in high spirits against South Africa as they have performed well in recent matches. Australia must field their best XI against South Africa as we haven't heard of any injuries in their team at the moment. Against South Africa, this match will not be easy for South Africa if Australia takes the field with a full XI. Before this world cup tournament South Africa has played till semi-final in many world cup tournament but in semi-final they lost with poor performance, hope they will not maintain this consistency in this world cup. South Africa must walk in the opposite direction from other tournaments and they must secure the final against India only if they can recover from all their poor past records.
Given the fact that South Africa has the reputation as the eternal chokers, I believe that Australia are having much better chances of winning today. Australian batsmen are in top form and during the last few matches they have shown good momentum. On the other hand, South Africa started pretty well, but during the last few games they are showing some weakness. The presence of Temba Bavuma seems to be dragging them down. Anyway, a lot will depend on who will win the toss today. In case Australia wins the toss and bats first, then there will be no doubt on the outcome. |
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What a performance from the Indian team in the semi-final. First, they batted exceptionally well and set up a mammoth target of 398 runs. This target is not achievable even in a bilateral series, let alone in the World Cup semi-final. In response, New Zealand did fight well initially. Williamson and Mitchell played well and stitched a great partnership. Williamson's wicket was the turning point of the match, and after that, the Indian bowler did not allow any batter to settle. Muhammad Shami was exceptional with the bowl. He singlehandedly won this match for India, as far as bowling is concerned. A target of 398 was in no means achievable, much less so against the in-form Indian bowlers. When Mitchell and Williamson were batting, there was a possibility that New Zealand would give a close fight. But once Williamson got out, it was all over for New Zealand. The remaining batsmen pathetically failed to offer any sort of support for Mitchell, who himself was suffering from cramps. Anyway, it is wrong to blame the batsmen, when the bowlers conceded such a huge total. Southee scored a century yesterday, as he conceded 100 runs from his 10 overs. |
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Rohit Sharma provided the momentum to the Indian team. His explosive hitting in the power play put New Zealand bowlers under pressure. This releases the pressure from the remaining batter, and they play freely. Rohit changed his game plan in this tournament and provided valuable runs at the start of the innings. Virat became the only batter in ODI history to score 50 hundreds. Iyer's valuable contribution in the middle was also very important in setting this mammoth total. In bowling, Muhamad Shami delivers a mind-blowing performance. He is now the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 23 wickets, that too in just 6 innings. Rohit played really selflessly so far in this tournament. I have noticed that he seldom plays for personal milestones, unlike the other senior players. And during yesterday's match also, he set up the launching pad for the Indian total of 397. And Shreyas Iyer's contribution also need to be mentioned. He has been in terrific form during this tournament. So far he has scored 526 runs in total, but the most important thing is that these runs came at a strike rate of 113.11. Rohit's strike rate stands at 124.15, while for Virat it is just 90.68. |
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Watching Al Hilal games, we also watch the performance of outstanding players specifically from Europe, Cristiano Ronaldo and with the likes of Sadio Mane. The exact same thing in Al Hilal were we watch the world-class performance of Mitrovic. Al Hilal and Al Nassr are the evident strong teams in Saudi Pro League that are popularly recognizable by European teams and supporters. These teams have exceptional players and I'm aware how competitive they can be when it comes to elite competitions and league games, the coaches and the players doesn't compromised any opportunities they have to anticipates in big contests.
Out of the 4 teams which are being funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), I would say that Al Nassr and Al Hilal are the ones who are performing at top. The other two (Al Ittihad and Al Ahli) are being bogged down by different issues. Al Ahli is heavily dependent on players such as Allan Saint-Maximin and Franck Kessié. But they are in a decent state now, and are 3rd in the points table. Al Ittihad is in worse position. They are 5th in the table and recently they lost matches against weak teams like Al Shabab. |
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After the first innings everyone predicted this to be an easy win for India. The quick fall of wickets added more to it, and the winning probability of New Zealand was just 2% which later reached as high as 17% by the 30th over. The massive partnership of 181 runs from Williamson and Mitchell turned to be big pressure for India. After the partnership got broken, Phillips and Mitchell made 75 runs partnership. These three players kept the match lively for a long. Mohammad Shami is the real game changer, took 7 wickets and this is the highest wicket taken by a bowler in a world cup match.
Shami has been exceptional in this tournament. Historically he has performed exceptionally well in all the ODI World Cups in which he has participated. And it was just shocking to see him warming the bench during initial matches. Indian selection panel needs an urgent revision. They have mistreated many great players. And I am not just talking about Shami. Look at what happened to Ravichandran Ashwin. He deserved at least one chance and they could have included him for the match against Netherlands. |
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Is the US team actually prepared to win their tournament?
Historically, the home team always has an advantage. Could they use this opportunity?
I think they currently don't have players of the caliber of Landon Donovan, or Clint Dempsey. Those were probably some of the best players in the best era of US football.
But maybe I'm missing on some young talent, anyone knows some of them?
LOL.. In all probability, United States will end up just like Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, failing to win any of their group matches and failing to progress to the next phase. Anyway, their FIFA ranking is quite good and now they are ranked 11th in the table. But I don't give much importance to these rankings and don't think that they will perform well during the tournament. And right now they are the no.1 ranked team in CONCACAF confederation, even ahead of strong teams such as Mexico and Costa Rica. |
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