Cricket World Cup: Pat Cummins confident of Australia's chances against Proteas

Australia will be the favourites to cross the World Cup semi-final hurdle in Kolkata on Thursday, not only because of their excellent record in the knockout stages of ICC events, but also because of the terrible history of their opponents South Africa in must-win games.

The five-times champions shook off a sluggish start in India by winning seven matches in a row to make the last four. They have won four of the last six ODI World Cups, while they also won the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021.

By contrast, South Africa have never progressed beyond the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup. Poor luck and stage fright have combined to end the Proteas' hopes on many occasions.

"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, various other tournaments in big moments," Cummins said ahead of Thursday's match at the Eden Gardens.

"We feel lucky that we've been in these situations quite a bit, a lot of our players. Hard to speak on their behalf but I do know each World Cup it does seem to be the story that South Africa haven't quite achieved what they set out to do."

The Aussies did not have the best of starts to the tournament, losing to hosts India and South Africa before finding their groove, with spinner Adam Zampa hitting form at the right time.

"I think we've come a long way since the start of the tournament," pace bowler Cummins said. "We got better as a team since then.

"We are a bit more aggressive with our batting, we are taking the game on a bit more. With the bowling, I think we've just got better and better in all phases.

"We've obviously played a lot of cricket over the last month and it just feels like everyone knows their