- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Australia have beaten South Africa in both semifinals that they have played in the history of World Cup.
By: Shubham Ghosh
SOUTH AFRICA will face Australia in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, on Thursday (16). Both the teams have won seven matches in the tournament and lost two but the Proteas ended up higher in the points table due to a better net run rate.
In their league encounter, South Africa defeated Australia by 134 runs but the Kangaroos won seven consecutive games after that to end third in the points table.
The winners of the second semi-final will meet hosts India, who beat New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (15), in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (19).
It will be the fifth time that South Africa will play in a World Cup semi-final after making their debut in the 1992 edition while for Australia, it will be the ninth time. South Africa have never won a semi-final game in the World Cup, a failure that earned them the tag of ‘chokers’, while Australia have won seven of the eight semi-finals they have played till now.
The two teams have played each other in the World Cup semi-finals twice — in 1999 and 2007 — with Australia winning on both occasions. In 1999, the match ended in a dramatic tie, but Australia progressed as they were placed higher in the Super Six stage due to a superior net run rate (NRR).
Here we have a look at past records of South Africa and Australia in the semi-finals of the cricket World Cup.
South Africa:
1992: Lost to England by 19 runs by most productive overs method in Sydney
1996: Didn’t qualify
1999: Lost to Australia due to a lower position in points table in terms of NRR after match got tied in Birmingham
2003: Didn’t qualify
2007: Lost to Australia by 7 wickets in Gros Islet
2011: Didn’t qualify
2015: Lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets (DLS method) in Auckland
2019: Didn’t qualify
Australia:
1975: Beat England by 4 wickets in Leeds (lost to West Indies in final)
1979: Didn’t qualify
1983: Didn’t qualify
1987: Beat Pakistan by 18 runs in Lahore (won the trophy)
1992: Didn’t qualify
1996: Beat the West Indies by 5 runs in Mohali (lost to Sri Lanka in final)
1999: Beat South Africa due to a higher position in points table in terms of NRR after match got tied in Birmingham (won the trophy)
2003: Beat Sri Lanka by 48 runs in D/L method in Port Elizabeth (won the trophy)
2007: Beat South Africa by 7 wickets in Gros Islet (won the trophy)
2011: Didn’t qualify
2015: Beat India by 95 runs in Sydney (won the trophy)
2019: Lost to England by 8 wickets in Birmingham
