Host India, five-time champions Australia and long-time title contenders South Africa and New Zealand successfully navigated the five-week group phase of the Cricket World Cup to reach the semi-finals.
Many had expected England – the World Cup holders in both the one-day and Twenty20 formats – to breeze into this stage of the tournament, but instead they crashed and burned, finishing seventh and barely securing qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
When are the Cricket World Cup semi-finals?
After winning nine straight games to finish atop the standings, India face fourth-place New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. The game will start at 8.30am GMT.
South Africa and Australia finished equal with seven wins and two losses apiece and will meet on Thursday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, also starting at 8.30am GMT.
The semi-final winners will advance to the final on Sunday.
How can I watch the Cricket World Cup?
The games will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket, with coverage starting at 8am.
Highlights will be shown on Channel 5, starting at 12.30am.
You can also listen to the games on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, which you can find on Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra, as well as the BBC Sport website.
How did each team reach the semis?
India
In pursuit of their third title, India set the benchmark – they beat Australia and Pakistan with consummate ease, then trounced England and South Africa. Perhaps their biggest challenge came from New Zealand at Dharamsala, but Virat Kohli’s 95 helped navigate it.
Kohli leads the run charts with 594 runs in nine games. Skipper Rohit Sharma is fourth with 503, and his strike-rate is the highest for any opener who has featured in all nine league games. Four of India’s six primary batters have posted hundreds in the tournament.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah is fifth with 17 wickets. Mohammed Shami has blitzed his way through batting lineups to pick 16 wickets at a remarkable average of 9.56 in just five games. Ravindra Jadeja is just outside the top 10 with 15.
“We’ve maintained some really high standards in terms of our execution, our intensity,” India coach Rahul Dravid said. “We’ve travelled the length and breadth of this country… and I think what this team has done really well is it has really represented India fantastically. It’s played a really good brand of cricket.”
The other three teams have an onerous task at hand – how to stop this Indian juggernaut?
New Zealand
First up, it’s the Black Caps who have the tough task of facing the rampant home team in the semis. The New Zealanders opened with four consecutive wins before a loss to India at altitude sparked a run of four losses. They arrested that slide to win against Sri Lanka and qualify for a fifth successive World Cup semi-final.
New Zealand will take some confidence from winning at the same stage four years ago, when they beat table-topping India across a rain-affected two days in Manchester. A repeat of that would certainly stun the hosts.
Australia
Australia are on a seven-match unbeaten streak going into the semi-finals. They lost their opening two games to India and South Africa but rebounded strongly to secure a semi-final spot well ahead of time.
Opening batter David Warner, with 499 runs in nine games, and spinner Adam Zampa, with a tournament-leading 22 wickets, have led the turnaround.
Then, there is all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who set the tournament afire with two stunning knocks. The first was against the Netherlands in Delhi, where he smacked the fastest World Cup century off only 40 balls.
The second was against Afghanistan in Mumbai when Australia were down to 91-7 in a 292-run chase. Maxwell, cramping and in pain, plundered an unbeaten, stand-and-deliver 201 off 128 balls in what is widely being regarded as one of the greatest ODI innings ever played.
South Africa
The Proteas have the most runs in the tournament and are responsible for four of the dozen 350-plus scores so far.
Opener Quinton de Kock is second on the tournament scoring standings with 591 runs at a strike-rate of 109, and South Africa have two bowlers among the top six wicket-takers in the first stage.
In Lucknow, South Africa beat the Australians by amassing 311 on a two-paced pitch and then bowled them out for 177. This win will instil confidence, but when it comes to playing Australia in a semi-final setting, there is a lot of history to overcome.
South Africa lost to Australia in the 2007 semis by seven wickets. Back in 1999, the teams finished tied in a semi-final thriller at Edgbaston, with Australia advancing on higher run-rate in the Super Six stage.
“I was 10 years old in 1999, so don’t remember much,” batter Rassie van der Dussen said. “In 2007, we didn’t execute plans on the day. Both those years, we really had a good chance, especially in 99.”
