Resurgent South Africa and five-time World Champions Australia lock horns against each other. The highly anticipated second semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata, India. The match will feature two of the world's cricketing powerhouses, South Africa and Australia, competing for a place in the final.

In-form South Africa takes on the serial winners Australia with history on their shoulders

Previously, in the group stage of the tournament in Lucknow, South Africa emerged victorious over Australia by a convincing 134-run margin. Quinton de Kock's remarkable century, scoring 109 runs off 106 balls, set the tone for the Proteas' batting dominance. Kagiso Rabada's exceptional bowling performance, contributing 3/33, followed by Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj, and Marco Jansen's valuable contributions, taking two wickets each, ensured South Africa's success.

This semi-final will be the third occasion that Australia and South Africa have met, with the first in 1999 at Edgbaston being tied and Australia winning by seven wickets in 2007 in St. Lucia. The winner of this match will advance to the finals, where they will face India. The final will be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of Semi-Final 2 between South Africa and Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023:

Head-to-Head Form Guide:

109 matches have been played between South Africa and Australia, with the Proteas winning 55 and the Aussies winning 50. Three games ended in a tie, while one match resulted in no result. In the World Cups, seven matches have been contested by the two teams, each winning three games and a tie in one match.

Fascinating Facts:

1. Australia and South Africa have met seven times in past World Cup tournaments, with an even distribution of victories between the two teams. Specifically, each team has emerged victorious thrice, with one highly publicized tie in 1999 at Edgbaston.

2. Australia has been successful in the two World Cup knockout encounters against their opponents in the semi-finals in 1999 and 2007. Notably, in both of these instances, Australia emerged victorious and proceeded to win the tournament.

3. In the context of the overall head-to-head record in ODIs, South Africa holds a slight advantage with 55 wins compared to Australia's 50 victories. Their first encounter at the 1992 World Cup resulted in a South African triumph, and in the past 18 meetings since September 2016, South Africa has emerged victorious in 15.

4. Glenn Maxwell needs 108 runs to reach 4000 ODI runs, while David Warner needs 104 runs to reach 7000 runs in ODIs.

5. Star Australia wrist spinner Adam Zampa has taken 22 wickets in the ODI World Cup 2023. He needs just six more wickets in a maximum of two games to surpass the record of 27 wickets in a single World Cup held by his teammate, Mitchell Starc, who achieved this feat in 2019.

Approaching Milestones:

1 - Aiden Markram (49) needs one maximum to complete 50 sixes in ODI cricket.

1 - Lungi Ngidi (199) needs one scalp to get to 200 wickets across formats.

1 - Marcus Stoinis (49) is one big hit away from reaching 50 maximums in one-day internationals.

2 - Marcus Stoinis (48) also requires two scalps to reach 50 wickets in the 50-over format.

3 - Travis Head (47) needs three sixes to complete 50 maximums in ODIs.

4 - David Warner (296) needs four sixes to complete 300 sixes in international cricket.

6 - Kagiso Rabada (494) needs six wickets to complete 500 wickets in international cricket.

68 - David Miller (932) needs 68 runs to Complete 1000 ODI runs.

102 - Glenn Maxwell (898) needs 102 runs to complete 1000 runs in the ODI World Cup.

104 - David Warner (6896) needs 104 runs to complete 7000 ODI runs.

108 - Glenn Maxwell (3892) needs 108 runs to complete 4000 ODI runs.