South Africa versus Australia: A battle of equals between old foes at Eden Gardens | Cricket-world-cup News

His gaze wandering to the newly-plastered ceiling of the Eden Gardens press conference room, some of the bulbs flickering to life, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma confessed feeling nervous before the biggest game yet of his captaincy-journey. As an afterthought, lest he is misconstrued as being timid, he said: “There are obviously solutions or mechanisms that have been given as to how to deal with that anxiety if you feel that it overwhelms you…”
He not only admitted being nervous, but also looked like he was. His Australia counterpart, Pat Cummins, was just the antithesis, smiling broadly and chuckling often.
But in these times of media-trained athlete-speak, both barely threw verbal punches at each other. Rather, they were effusive in praising the semifinal adversaries. Bavuma would emphasize that “we are not playing any mickey mouse teams.” Cummins would dwell on South Africa’s “positive cricket.” The closest salvo-fling came when Cummins spoke of his team’s experience in winning finals (2015 World Cup and 2021 T20), but even that was a passing, venom-less reference uttered in the friendliest tone. Bavuma’s moment arrived when he said: “The way we have been playing, we deserve to play the final.”

There, though, was nothing of the rancour that had filtered into press-conference rooms of encounters past.
Like in 1999, Steve Waugh whipped up the most sarcastic of quotes: “I never said South Africa were chokers. I said they couldn’t play well under pressure. But if remarks like that upset them, then they have problems.”
Or when South Africa coach Bob Woolmer responded, fuming: “This is 1999, the choking thing is all played out. Why should we be called chokers when we have an 80% win record? You only have to look at the facts.”
No lack of fire
But let the pregame calm be not misconstrued for a lack of fire, a veil of amiability forged playing as teammates in franchise league. It’s just that Bavuma and Cummins are not champions of the verbal rattle, not built in Hansie Cronje-Steve Waugh mould.

The mood could have been different had David Warner and Kagiso Rabada been the speakers. Nonetheless, there are enough threads to make this a classical Australia-South Africa clash, an encounter of two hard teams in a relentless tussle to out-muscle, outwit and out-run each other.
For much of the last three decades, South Africa’s only endeavor seemed to knock Australia off the lofty perch.
The fixation once prompted Waugh to fling another bullet: “In knockouts against us, they try too hard and so they lose.” For much of this span, they have been equals. In fact, South Africa have beaten Australia oftener, yet Australia were four-time world champions since, while South Africa are hunting for their first.

At the Eden Gardens, they begin as equals again. Both logged in the same number of points to reach the semifinals, both lost twice and won seven games, both separated decimals and fractions. Both are built around big-hitting batsmen. South Africa’s arsenal flash the destructibility of Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klassen, Aiden Markram and David Miller.
Australia have a blazing constellation of David Warner, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh. Rassie van der Dussen has slotted into the anchor role, though he is capable of lusty blows himself. So could Australia speak of Steve Smith. Both bat deep too. A high-scoring game, thus, would be a carnival of some of the world’s most enterprising batsmen. Between these two batting line-ups, they have racked up eight 300-plus totals and 14 hundreds (seven each).

Only that these batsmen would countenance a fleet of supreme, Test-quality bowlers. The match-ups suffice for an adrenaline rush. Sample these: Kagiso Rabada combating Warner and Smith; Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins revving up the pace to de Kock; Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi versus the slayer of spin. Glenn Maxwell; Adam Zampa probing Klassen and Co with his wrong’uns. Perhaps, the only advantage South Africa wields is that they have a quality second spinner, in Tabraiz Shamsi.Most Read
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Australia have to rely on Zampa and the part-time spin of Maxwell and Shamsi. Maxwell, though, has maintained an economy rate of 4.95. Together, Maxwell and Zampa have accounted for 27 wickets: Maharaj and Shamsi have a combined haul of 21. But the South Africa pair have picked a wicket for every 25th run they have conceded. Australia’s corresponding number is 35, the number hiked Maxwell’s average of 52. South Africa have bowled out opponents seven times; Australia on five instances.
Given that the Eden deck could abet the spinners — as both captains reckoned after initial pitch-peeping — Zampa and Maharaj could turn out to be central protagons. Both are as opposites as spinners could be. Zampa is a wr-spinner forged in the modern white-ball fire, relying more on his wrong’uns and sliders than the conventional leg-breaks. Maharaj’s methods are more classical, reliant on mesmeric drift, a snappy arm-ball and the away-spinners that break away viciously on helpful tracks. On the other hand, Australia batsmen seem better equipped to deal with the spinners, given their vast experience of the subcontinent.

But whatever the nature of the pitch turns out to be, both teams have the weapons to exploit. Both have their set of weaknesses too. South Africa have been poor chasers — they lost both games when hunting down a target, while clinging onto a one-wicket win too. Australia have a flaky lower middle-order, the form of Josh Inglis (18.71) and Stoinis (21.75) a concern. Both thus, are flawed and gifted, and both promise to serve up another classic. Australia fuelled their glittering past, and South Africa fired up the promise of tomorrow. And when the moment arrives on the pitch, the veneer of calm and nerves that prevailed on the eve of the semifinal could all make way for raw rage and rancour.