Josh Hazlewood disappears from the bowling attack after white-hot ...

Josh Hazlewood’s opening spell on Thursday night reminded the cricket world why he began the World Cup as the ICC’s equal No.1 ranked ODI bowler in the world.

The Aussie seamer paired with Mitchell Starc to wreak havoc on South Africa in the opening 13 overs of their semi-final clash.

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The Proteas were reeling at 4-32 after 13 overs, six of which had been sent down by a miserly Hazlewood, who took 2-12 in his scintillating opening spell.

Now the No.6 ranked ODI bowler in the world, Hazlewood was brought back into the attack in the 16th over and, remarkably for a white-ball game, delivered two consecutive maidens — his second and third for the innings.

That was his final contribution for the game, which lasted another 31.4 overs.

Skipper Pat Cummins opted for himself and Starc as the preferred death bowlers.

With no Marcus Stoinis in the team, Cummins had to find 10 overs from allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh, and gave them all to Maxwell, who bowled well for his 0-35.

Travis Head made a crucial breakthrough. Credit: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

But he also gave five to Travis Head, whose golden arm found the crucial breakthrough when Heinrich Klaasn and David Miller had built an innings-saving partnership after the Proteas’ catastrophic start.

That meant five overs had to be deducted out of the 40 that Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and spinner Adam Zampa would usually bowl.

With Zampa (0-55) uncharacteristically below his best in the game, having been one of the players of the tournament until that point, the right-arm leg spinner was given just seven overs.

The two remaining overs were taken from Hazlewood, despite his two wickets and rare economy rate of just 1.50.

It confused cricket analyst Ric Finlay, who didn’t miss the omission.

“Did Josh Hazlewood have something else to do in Kolkata last night?” Finlay said.

“Bowled the 18th over of the match, a maiden, in a game that lasted 97.2 overs, then was not sighted on my TV screen again!”

Josh Hazlewood was on fire early, but wasn’t used thereafter. Credit: Gallo Images/Getty Images

Cricket reporter Josh Schönafinger was just as puzzled.

“Josh Hazlewood bowled three maidens in the first 18 overs,” he said.

“Wasn’t used in the remaining 32 overs as Cummins and Starc remain the preferred death overs bowlers. Hazlewood finishes with 8-3-12-2.”

But Cummins’ call proved good enough for his side to progress through to their eighth Cricket World Cup final, which they will contest on Sunday night against India.

And it wasn’t just his captaincy and bowling that led Australia to the heart-stopping win — he did it with the bat as well, and not for the first time this year.

Five months on from his Ashes heroics at Edgbaston and a week after partnering with Glenn Maxwell to steer Australia home against Afghanistan, Cummins did it again against South Africa.

Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins celebrate Australia’s incredible World Cup win over Afghanistan at Wankhede Stadium. Credit: Getty Images

This time, Australia’s captain was only required to add 20 runs for the eighth wicket on Thursday with Starc, but those runs couldn’t have been harder to glean on a spinner’s wicket in Kolkata — and with a place in the World Cup final at stake.

Brought to the crease at Eden Gardens with the ball spinning and Proteas quick Gerald Coetzee on a roll, Australia were a real chance of falling out of the World Cup.

In control at one stage at 0-60 chasing 213, Australia had fallen to 5-137 when Maxwell came and went in a flurry.

The situation looked equally dicey at 7-193, with only 20 required to win but no recognised batters left.

Cummins, though, is playing with all the composure of a genuine batter this year.

He and Starc soaked up 45 balls to get the required 20, working singles and only taking on the very loose deliveries.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were all smiles after dragging Australia into the World Cup final. Credit: AP

Cummins alleviated some of the pressure when he guided Coetzee down to the backward-point boundary for four early in his stay. That made it 14 to win.

He was dropped with nine runs still to go, but kept his calm following that and fittingly hit the cut shot to the boundary off Marco Jansen to get Australia home.

“I think it’s easier out there than sitting in the dugout,” Cummins, who finished 14 not out, quipped afterwards.

“It was a nerve-wracking couple of hours.”

The beauty of Cummins’ match-winning efforts in 2023 is that none have been the same.

With Nathan Lyon at Edgbaston in the first Ashes Test, the 55 Australia required with two wickets in hand looked almost impossible.

There, Cummins attacked early to put the pressure back on England, before having to be the man to lead the partnership with Lyon with an unbeaten 44.

Cummins hit the winning runs in the first Ashes Test as well. Credit: Visionhaus/Visionhaus/Getty Images

Last week, it was the complete opposite in his record-breaking 202-run unbeaten eighth-wicket stand with Maxwell to win the match.

While Maxwell smashed 201* from 128 balls, Cummins simply had to survive at the other end with one of the slowest ODI knocks in recent history with 12 from 68.

Making it all the more remarkable is that before 2023, Cummins’ batting had tailed off at international level since becoming captain.

After skipping the IPL this year, he spent April and May at home working on his batting and hitting thousands of balls with coach Trent Woodhill.

“Over the last couple of years I found switching between formats hard,” Cummins said in June.

“I feel like my T20 batting has got a lot better, probably at the detriment to Test rhythm at time.

“Hopefully, there can be a bit more of a balance between the two.”

Cummins, it appears, has now found that balance.

- With AAP

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