'Have only Zampa' Gautam Gambhir mocks 5-time champions Australia, backs South Africa in semifinal

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir is optimistic about South Africa's prospects in the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia, citing their successful chase against Afghanistan's spinners as a confidence booster. In the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, South Africa chased down a 245-run target set by Afghanistan, securing their second position in the standings with five wickets and 15 deliveries to spare.

3 things you need to know

• South Africa all set to lock horns against Australia in the semi-final of the ODI World Cup 2023
• South Africa finished second on the ODI World Cup points table with 7 wins in 9 matches
• India and New Zealand are most likely to play in the other semi-final of the tournament

Gautam Gambhir backs South Africa to win against Australia

Gambhir, during a discussion on Star Sports, emphasized the strength of Afghanistan's spin attack, comprising Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, as the best in the world. He downplayed concerns about Australia's potential dominance, pointing out that Australia primarily relies on Adam Zampa as their main spinner.

Addressing the question of whether Australia would overpower South Africa in a similar run chase, Gautam Gambhir disagreed. He expressed confidence that South Africa would find it easier to chase runs against Australia's pace bowlers, led by Pat Cummins. Gautam Gambhir highlighted the unique challenge posed by Afghanistan's spin quartet and suggested that South Africa's successful run chase against them would boost their confidence for a potential encounter with Australia.

“It's nothing like that because I believe this was the strongest spin attack in the world. You won't get such a spin attack when you play against any other team. Australia have only Adam Zampa. Here they had Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. If you have 40 overs of spin like this, I feel South Africa would have got a lot of confidence from this run chase because if you do a run chase against Australia, things will be easier than this,” Gautam Gambhir said. 

In the Afghanistan game, South Africa faced a challenging situation at 182/5 after 37.1 overs, but Rassie van der Dussen (76*) and Andile Phehlukwayo (39*) formed an unbeaten 65-run partnership for the sixth wicket, securing victory. Gambhir believes that such experiences contribute to South Africa's confidence and make chasing runs against Australia seem comparatively more manageable.