The South Africa-Australia encounter was one of the most thrilling and exciting matches of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 as the South African bowlers gave their best to dismiss the Aussie team below the score of 212 runs in the second semi-final which was played on Eden Gardens, Kolkata. However, the South African team’s batting and fielding was below par and the number of catches that they dropped played an important role in their defeat. South Africa could post only 212 runs on the scoreboard which was certainly not a difficult target for the strong batting line-up of Australia.
The Australian openers gave their team a good start; though David Warner got out at the score of 29, Travis Head played a beautiful innings of 62 runs for which he faced 48 balls and his innings included 9 fours & 2 sixes. Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals but still they managed to chase the target successfully with 3 wickets in hand and 16 balls remaining in their innings.
Travis Head was adjudged as the Player of the Match as he contributed not only with the bat but with the ball as well, he dismissed two Proteas batters in his 5 overs and gave away only 21 runs.
Initially, Travis Head was not a part of the playing eleven because he had a fractured arm but instead of sending him back, the team management decided to retain him and back him and now he has played some important knocks for his team in the 5 matches that he has played in the tournament.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Travis Head stated that he thought that he wouldn’t be here after the injury but it is really nice to be here and he is glad to contribute for his team.
Talking about the match, Travis Head said that it was an amazing game that had a tense finish and nobody moved from the seat during the last part of the game. He further said that they had been here (Kolkata) for the last 3-4 days, they haven’t seen such a spin earlier so they had an idea that they will have to battle.
Travis Head was quite happy with the fact that he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen but he was also a little upset with the manner in which he got dismissed by Keshav Maharaj.
Talking about the final which Australia will play against India on 19 November, he said that it is an unbelievable attack, their bowlers are looking great and it is one of the best teams of the competition. He concluded by saying that he never dreamed of playing the final of the World Cup against India.
The final will be played tomorrow at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmeadabad. All the best team India!
