KOLKATA: Travis Head starred with bat and ball as Australia set up a World Cup final clash with India after a tense three-wicket win over South Africa in Kolkata
on Thursday.
Chasing a tricky 213 for victory, Australia wobbled after Head hit 62 but Steve Smith (30) and Josh Inglis (28) helped the five-time champions reach their target with 16 balls to spare in the second semifinal in Kolkata.
As Australia reached an eighth World Cup final, South Africa were left to rue a fifth semifinal loss despite David Miller’s 101.
Australia slipped to 137-5 and then 193-7 before Mitchell Starc (16) and skipper Pat Cummins (14) kept their nerve to steer the
team home.
Left-hand batsman and part-time off-spinner Head stood out after taking two wickets and then with his 48-ball innings laced with nine fours and two sixes.
Australia were in trouble when they were five down as spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi struck in quick succession to rattle the middle-order.
Maharaj bowled Head, who was dropped on 40 and 57, and Shamsi, a left-arm wrist spinner, trapped Marnus Labuschagne lbw for 18 and bowled Glenn Maxwell for one in his next over.
Australia started the tournament with two losses but registered their eighth straight win.
Starc led the bowling charge with figures of 3-34 and Cummins also picked three wickets to bowl out South Africa for 212 in 49.4 overs.
Left-arm quick Starc struck in the first over to send back South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who had said he was not “100 percent fit” at the toss, for a fourth-ball duck.
Josh Hazlewood claimed the wicket of in-form Quinton de Kock for three as Cummins took a stunning catch.
De Kock, who will quit one-day international after the World Cup, ended with 594 runs including four centuries to sit behind the tournament’s leading batsman Virat Kohli (711).
The new-ball bowlers kept up the attack with the wickets of Aiden Markram (10) and Rassie van der Dussen (six) as South Africa slumped to 24-4 and were 44-4 when rain interrupted play.
Klaasen and Miller hit back after the 45-minute rain break as the two put on 95 runs but Head broke through to bowl Klaasen for 47.
Head trapped Marco Jansen lbw on the next delivery to be on a hat trick, which was saved by Gerald Coetzee, who put on a 53-run partnership with Miller.
The left-handed Miller smashed eight fours and five sixes in his 116-ball knock.
The final is on Sunday at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Head to the fore as Australia set up World Cup final against India
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Head to the fore as Australia set up World Cup final against India
- The final is on Sunday at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad
Bangladesh replaced by Scotland at T20 World Cup, reports say
- Bangladesh had asked the ICC to move their games to the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka instead
- Scotland, the highest-ranked non-qualifier, are now set to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C
DUBAI: Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup after the South Asian side refused to travel to co-hosts India, media reports said on Saturday citing sources within the sport’s governing International Cricket Council.
The decision follows weeks of uncertainty, during which the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) repeatedly insisted it would not play its scheduled matches in India, citing safety concerns following soured political relations between the neighbors.
Bangladesh had asked the ICC to move their games to the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka instead, but the governing body rejected the demand, dismissing any security threat to the team.
Scotland, the highest-ranked non-qualifier, are now set to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, which features England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies, the BBC reported.
Reuters has contacted the ICC, BCB and Cricket Scotland for comment.
PROTESTS NEAR BANGLADESH HIGH COMMISSION
Last month, hundreds of people protested near Bangladesh’s High Commission in New Delhi after Hindu factory worker Dipu Chandra Das was beaten and set on fire in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district by a crowd that accused him of making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
A total of 12 people were arrested in connection with his death.
The incident worsened relations between India and its neighbor, with ties already strained after Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi following protests against her.
Political tensions have spilled into cricket.
Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from this year’s Indian Premier League despite signing with its Kolkata franchise. Bangladesh responded by banning IPL broadcasts in the country and demanding to play World Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
The standoff mirrors previous tensions in South Asian cricket.
For the Champions Trophy last year, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) stuck to its policy of not touring Pakistan because of the strained political ties between the bitter neighbors, who play each other only in ICC events.
Like for the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan, a ‘hybrid model’ was agreed on under which India were allowed to play their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai to salvage the tournament.
Under the agreement running until 2027, Pakistan will play in a neutral venue for any ICC event, including the T20 World Cup where they are scheduled to play their matches in Sri Lanka.
The 20-team World Cup is set to begin on February 7.
