Cricket World Cup semi-final tips: South Africa vs Australia

South Africa's reward for finishing second on the round-robin table at the Cricket World Cup is a tough match against a familiar opponent.

Australia were in South Africa for a bilateral series not long before the Cricket World Cup in India, going out to a 2-0 series lead before coming undone in the remaining three to lose the series.

South Africa and Australia have both shown themselves to be a whole lot more comfortable defending scores rather than chasing them down.

Two of the better bowling attacks in the competition meet, but batting performance is likely to be the key element in this contest.

With a reserve day in place, concerns about the weather are offset somewhat, but the forecast is a bleak one.

Should the match be rained off, South Africa will progress to the final, though Thursday's outlook is better than that on Friday when rain is almost sure to fall on Eden Gardens.

Australia play at Eden Gardens for the first time in their Cricket World Cup campaign, while South Africa will be out to put a lot of history behind them. Still, more recently, the defeat suffered at the hands of India in Kolkata will surely be something South Africa will want to learn from.

South Africa vs Australia: Tips and suggested bets

This close to the end of a Cricket World Cup, it is never a good idea to bet against Australia, the undisputed kings of this tournament.

South Africa have been quite the opposite, consistently underperforming in critical games late in ICC tournaments and being labelled chokers.

To be fair, barring particular standouts, neither team has really shone when they have been put under pressure, and the team that starts best will have the best chance of victory; considering their respective records, the team that bats first is far more likely to win and the toss will be key.

South Africa might be without skipper Temba Bavuma, who was still moving gingerly in training on Tuesday but took part in the complete session. Should Reeza Hendricks get a start, he will be a good punt to end as the topscorer as a Proteas bat that can withstand a lot of pressure up front and lay a platform for the finishers or go big himself.

Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi are shortest to end as the top Proteas wicket-taker, but Gerald Coetzee has had a golden arm all tournament and should be drawing significant money.

For Australia, the man with the steel to lead this team to glory with the bat is Mitch Marsh, who returned to the squad after brief compassionate leave following a family bereavement. Marsh was dynamite against Bangladesh, and while South Africa will pose a greater new ball threat than the Tigers, he looks to be in great form.

If Australia get into trouble, that will allow Glenn Maxwell to come to the fore, but they would ideally not want to put too much on the shoulders of their No 7.

Mitchell Starc could be devastating with both the new and the old ball, and if Adam Zampa doesn't get you, Starc will. Back either Starc or Zampa to top the wicket-takers.

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