Captain Cummins leads Australia into World Cup Final
Australia v South Africa, 16th November 2023.
South Africa 212 all out
Australia 215–7
Australia win by 3 wickets
Prologue: A captain’s tale
When South African captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bat first it was universally agreed amongst an excitable TV commentary team that he’d made the correct call even in spite of the heavy rain filled clouds above Eden Gardens, the muggy conditions conducive to fast swing bowling and a wicket that will have sweated beneath the covers protecting it from the overnight rain showers. Post-match, Australian captain Pat Cummins admitted he wasn’t unhappy to have lost the toss and, in the vernacular of this grandest of all games, it was a “good toss to lose”.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
Opening the innings for South Africa, Bavuma would last just 4 balls before “nicking off” to a swinging delivery from Mitchell Starc into the waiting gloves of wicket-keeper Josh Inglis and just 28 stupendous fast swinging deliveries later from Starc and bowling partner Josh Hazlewood, Quinton de Kock, playing in his final One Day International for his country and upon whose shoulders much of the success of their innings rested, skied a difficult chance high into a gloomy Kolkata afternoon sky. Tracking the ball and running backwards and sideways was Aussie captain Pat Cummins. Safely pouching the catch before falling backwards onto the ground, Cummins released a guttural roar of delight, South Africa were already toppling at 8–2 which soon became 24–4 and Australia were in complete control of a Semi-Final they’d eventually win, but not without a scare or two along the way.
Epilogue: A captain’s tale
Temba Bavuma was incredibly magnanimous in defeat as he congratulated Australia in their “thoroughly deserved win” after a “good display of cricket”. He admitted his team were always “playing catch up” after such a poor start with the bat and reserved the highest of praise for Quinton de Kock as a “legend of the game”, for David Miller’s incredible century epitomising and “speaking to the character of our team” and finally 23 year old Gerald Coetzee, a late inclusion to the team and squad and quite simply a “warrior”. Despite the heartbreak of coming so close once more in a World Cup Semi-Final, Bavuma spoke with such grace and generosity.
Victorious captain Pat Cummins, yet again at the business end of an incredible game of cricket but not with his speciality as the number one rated bowler in Test Match cricket but with the bat, couldn’t hide his delight at being “pumped” by the win and that he’d emerged from a “very happy changing room”. He admitted the run chase had ended in a “nervy couple of hours” but preferred to being in the middle of the cricketing battle rather than watching on from the sidelines, as he was this evening, with Glenn Maxwell too for his never to be forgotten double century against Afghanistan and particularly this Summer to break English hearts at Edgbaston in The Ashes. He rightly acclaimed Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood as “ridiculous” with their opening spell of fast bowling before confirming the obvious and self evident. It may well be an incredible eighth World Cup Final for his country and the support on Sunday will be, said with a mighty laugh, “one-sided”, but they’ll “embrace” the occasion and “enjoy it” come what may.
If you were to take a peek within the pages of my two self-published books available via www.amazon.com “Ashes to Ashes” and “The Spirit of Cricket” you’ll notice a tongue in cheek pattern emerge whereby I constantly question whether in fact Pat Cummins is the real captain of Australia. Steve Smith, now fully rehabilitated following the outrageous cheating scandal surrounding “Sandpapergate” always seems to me to be the on-field captain and I ended this Summer’s book poking fun at the prospect of Pat Cummins returning to Australia under a cloud of uncertainty despite leading his country to World Test Champions and holders of The Ashes. I suggested Steve Smith will be forever hovering in the wings waiting to take over the captaincy and/or an Australian Cricket Board wanting him to be captain if only to ensure he continues donning the “Baggy Green”, postponing talk of retirement, and taking to the cricket field to represent his country.
Even as an English “Pom”, I will be as pleased as anyone to see Pat Cummins leading his team in the unenviable quest to defeat the unbeatable looking India on their home turf this coming Sunday.
"Ashes to Ashes" - Available on Amazon
"The Spirit of Cricket" - Available on Amazon
In between these captain’s tales came an extraordinary South African batting collapse, a bowling spell from Josh Hazlewood from the cricketing Gods and an innings saving century of guts, guile and gusto from David Miller without which South Africa would have slumped to an early and ignominious defeat. Hazlewood, consistently and brilliantly bowling into an “ice cream bucket” according to the excitable analysis of ex Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden, finished with the astonishing figures of 2–12 but with his partner in crime Mitchell Starc ripped the heart out of the top order of the South African innings. Heinrich Klaasen and Gerald Coetzee kept David Miller company for his innings saving century and from a tottering 44–4 at a rain break, South Africa admirably posted a still light but competitive final total of 212 all out.
Travis Head cemented his “Man of the Match” performance both with bat and ball as he firstly snagged the vital wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen in consecutive spinning deliveries before dispatching Jansen and his fellow South African fast bowlers to all parts of Eden Gardens on his way to a 40 ball half century and eventual table setting innings of 62 from just 48 balls received. From 106–2 at the fall of Head’s wicket, Australia chipped away at the remaining 106 runs needed for victory all the while losing wickets at regular intervals and at the fall of the dangerous Glenn Maxwell for just 1 they still needed 75 runs to win. Step forward a priceless knock of 30 from Steve Smith, 28 from Josh Inglis and with 20 still needed for victory and a place in the World Cup Final, it was their captain Pat Cummins, one of the greatest bowlers in the world in any form of this great game, who guided them home once more with the bat.
So it’s onto the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday for the World Cup Final and the showdown between an Australian team in their eighth Final and as usual, peaking at the right time, and an Indian team with destiny in their cricketing sights. With well in excess of 100,000 expected in this vast sporting coliseum there will be the tiniest of smattering of Australian green and gold surrounded on all sides by the blue of India for a game that really and truly only has one conceivable winner.
But you write off Australia at your own peril.
Just as I did even before the tournament started seven long weeks ago!
Thanks for reading. There are numerous articles contained within my archives here on the 2023 World Cup as well as this year’s Ashes series with Australia and England’s recent overseas tours to the West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand. If I may be so bold as to direct you back to the middle of this article whereby you’ll find two rather wonderful self-published books covering all of this and so much more and look, let’s be honest here, wrapped up and with a rather fetching bow attached, they’d look delightful under someone’s tree this Christmas!
Go on, treat a cricket fan in the family, or even yourself!
Thanks.