Cricket World Cup: Proteas to face Australia in semis, India opponent to be settled

The Proteas will face Australia in the last four of the Cricket World Cup with both sides on 12 log points heading into their final round-robin fixtures.

Afghanistan, who could still snatch a last four place, will face the Proteas on Friday chasing a big win.

Proteas to face Australia

Australia wrap up their round-robin schedule on Saturday when they face Bangladesh.

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While Australia and South Africa could still change places on the log it won’t change the fact that they will meet in the semi-finals.

The Proteas and Australia will naturally be out to win those final matches and go into the semi-finals in winning form.

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New Zealand look likely to face India

Meanwhile New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan are all still in the race for the fourth and final place in the knockout stages.

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Whichever team comes through of those three will have to take on India who look set to be the first team to win all nine of their round-robin matches in the open pool format used in 1992 and 2019.

New Zealand currently occupy the critical fourth place but the Black Caps are only ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan on net run rate.

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The Black Caps face Sri Lanka on Thursday, 9 November and though a win will put them in pole position to take the final knockout place, they cannot clinch their spot until Afghanistan and Pakistan conclude their business.

Unless one of the three sides wins and the other two lose, the final lineup of the last four will be settled by net run rate.

Afghanistan face the Proteas on Friday and will know what they need to do to knock off New Zealand but they will also have to wait for Pakistan to wrap their round-robin phase against England on Sunday.

To calculate net run rate, one deducts a team’s average runs conceded per over from the average runs scored per over. Teams with a higher Net Run Rate are those who score more runs than they concede, and vice versa.