"1% Chance Of Watching The Final, I Don't Care Who Wins The World Cup..."- South Africa Head Coach

Australia defeated South Africa in the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and will now face India in the finals on Sunday, 19th November at the iconic Narendra Modi International Stadium, Ahmedabad. This was the third time the Aussies were able to get past the Proteas in the semi-final round of the ODI World Cup, previously doing so in 1999 and 2007.

Australian captain Pat Cummins said that he would draw on the experience of having played and won a World Cup final going into the ultimate battle with India. “A few of us have played such a game before and there are others who have played a World T20 final (in 2021). The 2015 World Cup was a career highlight, so to be out there in a final in India, can’t wait,” he told the official broadcasters.

Later, at the post-match press conference, left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc was asked about the point of difference in the final. “It will probably be about both pressure and skill,” said Starc who finished with the figures of 3/34 after he and Josh Hazelwood decimated the Proteas in the power-play. “Both teams know what is to play such games. We have met recently in the final of the World Test Championship. It will be a big occasion, a great spectacle and, as a changing room, we are looking forward.”

The one person who doesn’t really care about the finals is South Africa’s head coach Rob Walter. “To be honest, there is a 1% chance I would be watching. To be even more brutally honest, I don’t care (who wins). But it is great for the home team to win the World Cup and over the past eight weeks we have seen the kind of support there is for the India team. And they have been the best side in the competition,” said Rob Walter at the press conference.

South Africa Players Were Smiling After Their Defeat

It was surprising and heartwarming at the same time to see the South African team with huge smiles and big hugs after the defeat in the semi-finals unlike the players collapsing and sitting on their haunches after the heartbreaking defeat in the 2015 semi-finals. Australia was completely upbeat going into their eighth World Cup final.

“Our character came through. It was a dog fight,” the Proteas’ skipper Temba Bavuma told official broadcasters after commending Australia’s performance and accepting that they were outstanding for a large part of the game and thoroughly deserved victory. Temba Bavuma said that Quinton de Kock, whose One-Day International career came to an end with this match, would have wanted a different outcome to this match “but he’ll remember the fight we showed as a team. We’ve enjoyed playing with him, in South Africa he will go down as a legend of the game.”

To that South African coach Rob Walter added: “If you think about the cricket we played over the past eight weeks, it was memorable. And the more players have such experiences the more they get excited about their cricket. I think we surprised some people in this room and around the world. We have had world records, dominated teams and different people have put their hands up at different times. Guys are gutted now but they know they have left everything out there.”

Rob Walters revealed that Kagiso Rabada was not able to bowl because of a “bruised heel”. That is why he couldn’t be 100%. “But that also meant that Aiden (Markram) could be used and he was outstanding. I don’t think that (Rabada bowling only six overs) was a defining moment,” he added.

The way the pitch behaved at the start was very challenging according to Walters. South Africa could manage to score only 18 runs in the first 10 overs. “The first 12 overs, batting was a challenge. When the ball is coming at you so steep and there is lateral movement and there are two quality bowlers who are getting some assistance, your options are limited,” said Walter.

Mitchell Starc revealed his knowledge of the wicket spinning based on his experience on the training pitches here over the past few days. Even he was surprised when the wicket seamed up which made it tough to bat in the first 10 overs for the Proteas. “If you saw Joshy’s (Hazelwood) pitch map, it would be more like Test match bowling. We knew South Africa is pretty strong at the backend and wanted (David) Miller and (Heinrich) Klassen to be out there early and not at the end. Joshy built pressure with a lot of dot balls and that meant they could not play with freedom. Add to that the way we fielded. David Warner is 37 and look how he moved,” he said.