KOLKATA: The Cricket World Cup final on Sunday will pit five-time champions Australia against hosts India in Ahmedabad.
Australia overcame a gritty South African side by seven wickers in the second semifinal here on Thursday.
But before the final, the World Cup is embrolied in a controversy that surfaced as accusations of the pitches being swapped at the last minute in both the semifinals were made at the Board of Control for Cricket India.
The India vs New Zealand match turned out to be a high-scoring contest, with the hosts emerging victorious by 70 runs.
The second semifinal also saw a used pitch being deployed for the contest between Australia and South Africa. After the Aussies won the game by the barest of margins, pacer Mitchell Starc had a cheeky take on the pitch for the final.
Australia didn’t look at their best chasing a mediocre target of 213 runs. They lost 7 wickets in the process of the run-chase. When Starc was asked if he was concerned about the final, considering the nature of the run-chase against South Africa, he gave a rather cheeky response
“I guess we’ll find out when we get to Ahmedabad tomorrow and see if it’s a fresh wicket or an old wicket,” Starc said.
In the press conference, Starc was also asked about the nature of the pitch at the Eden Gardens.
“Yeah, it was obviously pretty bare wicket. I’m not sure if it was slightly tougher to start with the bat due to being under covers for some amount of time, I’m not sure how long.
We probably saw it was very, very inconsistent pace whilst it did probably nip a little bit, there was a little bit of swing.”
Australia will be bidding to win the 50-over World Cup for a record-extending sixth time while host nation India are seeking a third title.
South Africa, meanwhile, have never won a semifinal at the World Cup in five attempts.
“Quite hard to put into words,” a dejected Bavuma said. “Our character came through. It was a dog fight.
“The way we started with the bat and the ball was probably the turning point. We lost it quite badly there.”
