New Delhi: The stage is set, the teams are ready to roll as we gear up for the semi-final stage of the ICC World Cup 2023. After over a month of end-to-end battle in the league phase, we finally have the four teams that will feature in the business round of the competition, starting from next week. First up is host, India followed by South Africa, 5-time champions Australia and lastly the runners-up of 2019 World Cup, New Zealand. Rohit Sharma and co will be taking on New Zealand, while the 5-time record champions, Australia will go head to head with South Africa.
Date: 15th November 2023, Wednesday
Start Time: 2 PM IST.
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
LIVE Streaming: Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar.
Preview: This particular outing will be a repeat of the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final, where India lost narrowly by 18 runs following then captain MS Dhoni’s dismissal. India were on a 20-year winless streak against the Kiwis in ICC tournament before coming into this event, but this time around things changed completely in the league phase. Rohit Sharma and co broke the streak with a 4-wicket victory in October, chasing a challenging total of 274. The Men in Blue might have had their revenge, but the wounds of 2019 is still fresh in the memory. The hosts will have nothing but just a victory in mind. At the same time, New Zealand’s record against the Indians in major tournaments cannot be ignored either.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur.
New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young, Kyle Jamieson.
Date: 16th November 2023, Thursday
Start Time: 2 PM IST.
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
LIVE Streaming: Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar.
Preview: In the second semis, South Africa will be up against the most dominant team of the tournament’s history, Australia. The Proteas have never reached a World Cup Final and they will do everything to get themselves to Ahmedabad for the grand clash. Earlier in the tournament, South Africa trounced the Aussies by a big margin of 134 runs as the 5-time champs failed to chased down 312 runs. The Pat Cummins-led side would surely have revenge on their mind and just like the ICC World Test Championship back in June, they are eying for a 6th crown. The Africans are hopeful and have the firepower to take down anybody.
South Africa Squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams.
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steven Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis (wk), Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne.
