Seven on the bounce and Australia, after the torrid start to the campaign, are back to the best and find themselves in the semifinal of another ICC event – this is their ninth such appearance in the ICC Cricket World Cup – a record and skipper Pat Cummins knows the importance of the occasion.
He considers Australia’s 2015 World Cup win as his career point – even though he was not part of the playing XI; here is a chance for him to get one step closer to trumping his current career high.
“I still say that the 2015 World Cup was my career highlight and I wasn’t playing. You only get a chance (to win the World Cup) every four years so – yeah if I’m in the playing 11 we win – yeah that might pip that 2015 World Cup,” Cummins said during the pre-match presser ahead of the 2nd semifinal between Australia and South Africa at the Eden Gardens.
Cummins came into the World Cup with two ODIs as captain under his belt and the initial losses didn’t help his cause, but as the tournament progressed he could be seen emerging as the leader who understood the ebbs and flows of the game.
And he is now two wins away from joining an elite list of Australian captains to have won the coveted trophy – and if he does, Cummins will be their first bowler to achieve the feat – joining an even more elite list of comprising Imran Khan and Kapil Dev.
But Cummins is not weighed down by history or by expectations.
“You look back at some of the great Aussie sides and see that they’ve won the World Cup. So probably more from a playing point of view, I’ll kind of, yeah that’s what drives you to win World Cups. Yeah, to be captain of this side, if we won, I just feel like a huge privilege. Yeah, I’ve loved it. It’s a great bunch of lads,” he said.
But in South Africa, Cummins and Co. are facing a very tough proposition, especially because when these two teams met in the league stage, Australia were left high and dry on a tricky Ekana track.
Cummins is vary of that and with Eden Gardens also likely to present a similar scenario as Ekana in Lucknow, tackling spin is heavily on the Australian skipper’s mind.
“In terms of the wicket, it does look like it’s probably going to spin a bit more than some of the other wickets,” said Cummins, adding, “Which again, is the same for both teams. It might just be a slightly different pace game, but I think it’s still pretty evenly matched.”
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Evenly matched it is because these are two teams with slightly lighter spin attacks – left-arm orthodox Keshav Maharaj vs legpinner Adam Zampa.
Zampa is at the top in the most wickets tally with 22, while Maharaj is 14 – but at a miserly economy rate of 4.37. Zampa has gone at 5.26.
And considering the Eden Gardens will not be a belter of a track, the most important passage of play in the game will be the middle overs – where the two spinners and potentially three if Tabraiz Shamsi gets a look in.
In Lucknow, even though Australia were practically done and dusted by the pacers in the first 10 overs of the chase, Maharaj’s 2/30 in 10 and Shamsi’s 2/38 in 7.5 had ensured that Australia did not get a sniff at a second chance.
In the first two losses – to India in Chennai and South Africa in Lucknow – Australia were timid in their approach both with the bat and the ball and since then, they have turned over a new leaf.
Aggressive batting at the top with David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, and then Travis Head trying to go after bowlers has paid off. The bowling also seems to be coming together with Zampa at the forefront.
“I think we’ve come a long way since the start of the tournament. The first two games were two tough teams to come up against. And with the bowling, I think we’ve just got better and better in all phases,” said Cummins adding, “So yeah, it feels like we’re well placed. We’ve obviously played a lot of cricket over the last month and it just feels like everyone knows their role and it’s starting to click,” Cummins said.
This would be the third meeting between Australia and South Africa in the World Cup semis after 1999 and 2007. The 1999 World Cup remains a focal point in the rivalry, while 2007 was a breeze for the invincible Australian side.
But 14 years on, there is baggage of that history for players of both teams and Cummins isn’t one to focus too much on the past.
“The ’99 World Cup one, it’s kind of folklore, isn’t it? So, I’ve seen that replay heaps of times, you hear the stories. None of our players were playing (1999 WC). So yeah, you can’t probably draw too many conclusions from that team. But it’s part of Australian cricket folklore and history. So, you see the replays. But yeah, obviously none of us were playing in the game.”
But history has not been kind to South Africa in the semi-finals. They have made it to four semis, losing three and the 1999 one ending in a tie. It is at this stage of the tournament that the dreaded ‘C’ gets thrown around.
“You get more excited about the challenge and just get stuck into what needs to be done. So, yeah, hard to speak on their behalf, but I do know each World Cup, it does seem to be the story that South Africa haven’t quite achieved what they set out to do,” Cummins spoke about what the Proteas mindset would be heading into their fifth semifinal, still searching for their first win.
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