Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the second World Cup semi-final which takes place only 11 months after the tournament began. At Eden Gardens today five-times winners Australia take on South Africa who are competing in their fifth semi-final, having lost the previous four, a record which has led them to be stereotyped and mocked as ‘bottlers’ and ‘chokers’. 

It’s a designation that rests more on 1999 and the epic at Edgbaston, the greatest ODI in history, rather than 1992 when they were done by the rain and their own dawdling over-rate, 2007 when they came up against a great side and 2015 when Jean-Paul Duminy’s deceptive form with the ball made them go up against the co-hosts New Zealand without a proper fifth bowler and ended up costing them another rain-affected match. There is far more nuance to 1999 than most allow. Being choked by Steve Waugh’s relentless bullies (and that’s a compliment) is not the same as choking on your own fear.

Rain is  going to be another issue in Kolkata after overnight squalls but there is a reserve day should we lose too much play. Should the game be washed out, South Africa will go through to their first final by dint of beating Australia to second place in the group stage and defeating them in their head-to-head. Since that drubbing by virtue of Quinton de Kock’s century and Kagiso Rabada’s three for 33, Australia have rallied to win seven in succession, relying on some miraculous performances by Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa and excellent contributions from Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head and, above all, David Warner. But they haven’t been too convincing with the ball and both Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will have to find a way to do more than stifle and frustrate with short stuff and slower balls.

This is South Africa’s to win. They have the more dynamic bowling attack and a top six in which everyone has chipped in with at least one match-defining display. Australia, as we know only too well, generally find a way but the Proteas should make like England in the 2019 semi-final, banish all the ghosts of a troubled past against their fiercest rivals and continue to do what’s got them here in more robust shape than any South Africa side in World Cup history. Scars heal.