Kolkata's Eden Gardens witnessed a low-scoring thriller in the second semi-final of the 2023 ODI World Cup between Australia and South Africa on Thursday. It will go down amongst the greatest battles these two sides have had, particularly in ODI World Cups. Unfortunately, South Africa once again failed to make it past the knockout stage as Australia secured a nail-biting 3-wicket victory.
Opting to bat first, South Africa endured a collapse on a tricky surface. However, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen's rescue mission helped them to have something to fight back in the second innings. Killer Miller played one of the finest knocks in his career and guided his team to a score of 212.
Australia, in reply, got off to a great start with an opening stand of 60 runs in just six overs. David Warner and Travis Head played aggressively but the Proteas spinners applied breaks to get back on track. Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi pulled it back for their team but they were short of at least 20 runs.
It was an evenly contested match and a fully-packed crowd at the Eden Gardens was in complete delight. They could be seen cheering and screaming at every crucial moment of the match. Meanwhile, one such fan celebration caught the attention of the cricketing fraternity, which saw a young boy replicating Sourav Ganguly's iconic shirtless celebration on the Lord's balcony.
The kid in the stands celebrated a wicket for South Africa with the same enthusiasm and energy that Ganguly had when he celebrated India's victory over England in the 2002 NatWest series final.
Watch the viral video below:
Junior Ganguly celebrating His idol celebration in front of Ganguly at Eden gardens.#SaVsAus pic.twitter.com/qF0fIhMXbE
— Italian Vinci (@Antoniakabeta) November 16, 2023
They really put us under pressure: Temba Bavuma after the semi-final loss
A sixth-wicket partnership between Steven Smith and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis proved crucial to Australia's victory. Smith departed after making a 60-ball 30, but Inglis (49-ball 28) stayed there until he ensured his team was in a safer position. Mitchell Starc and skipper Pat Cummins held their nerves to pull off an incredible win.
"Our character came through there. Was a bit of a dog fight. The start with bat and ball put us on the backfoot and we had to play catch up from there. The conditions combined with the quality of the attack. They really put us under pressure and when you are 24/4, you will struggle to get to a good score," SA captain Temba Bavuma said in the post-match presentation.
"Definitely, we were gaining some confidence with the partnership of Klaasen and Miller. We would have wanted Klaasen to go a bit further as he can turn the match on it's head. Miller batted quite brilliantly in difficult conditions. We definitely felt we had a chance," he added.