Australia skipper Pat Cummins says his players will draw on experience from previous title wins in their Cricket World Cup semi-final clash today with South Africa, spurred on by Glenn Maxwell's heroics having given them "an extra leg."
Five-time winners Australia went down to the Proteas in the league stage by 134 runs before they won seven straight matches to make the semi-final in Kolkata. Australia, who lost a one-day international series in South Africa in September, have beaten their rivals twice in World Cup semi-finals.
"You start from scratch every time you play," Cummins said.
"I think what helps us is we've got a lot of guys that have been in this situation before that have won the one-day World Cup, T20 World Cup in big moments. So, I think that really helps. You can draw on that in the middle of the contest."
The most dramatic World Cup semi-final between the two teams was a tied match in Edgbaston in 1999 with Australia moving into the final due to a better group stage finish.
Australia have witnessed some brilliant individual performances including an unbeaten 201 from Maxwell in their dramatic win over Afghanistan and a match-winning 177 not out from Mitchell Marsh against Bangladesh.
"As a team you grow an extra leg because you feel like you can win a match from anywhere and having someone like 'Maxi' in your team ... he can win a game from anywhere."
South Africa leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi insisted the past "doesn't matter one bit."
"We're a different group of players. Before we got to the World Cup, nobody said that we'd be in the semi-final and here we are," he said. "Instead of feeling pressure, we see it as an opportunity to do something special."
Rain is threatening the contest with downpours forecast in the eastern city today.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Pat Cummins
