"Australia have only Adam Zampa" - Gautam Gambhir says South Africa will back themselves to beat the Aussies after chasing vs Afghanistan spinners

Gautam Gambhir believes South Africa's successful chase against the Afghanistan spinners will help their cause in their 2023 World Cup semi-final against Australia.

Afghanistan set the Proteas a 245-run target at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Temba Bavuma and company chased down the score with five wickets and 15 deliveries to spare to consolidate their second position in the standings.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked whether Australia will maul South Africa if they make similar heavy weather of a run chase against them. He replied in the negative, explaining:

"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."

The former India opener feels South Africa will find it easier to chase runs against Pat Cummins and company. He reasoned:

"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."

South Africa were in a spot of bother in Friday's game when the Afghanistan spinners reduced them to 182/5 after 37.1 overs. However, Rassie van der Dussen (76*) and Andile Phehlukwayo (39*) strung together an unbroken 65-run sixth-wicket partnership to take them over the line.

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"They will be feeling extremely confident against Australia" - Gautam Gambhir on South Africa

South Africa thrashed Australia by 134 runs in the league phase. [P/C: AP]

Gautam Gambhir was further asked about the Afghanistan bowlers not allowing the South African batters to play freely, to which he responded:

"Afghanistan were never going to allow them to play freely, the sort of spin bowling they have. That's why I feel that it was a huge challenge and South Africa overcame that challenge. So they will be feeling extremely confident against Australia."

While expecting the potential semi-final clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to be a high-scoring affair, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that the Proteas find themselves in a favorable position. He elaborated:

"So you will get to see a good match. It will be a high-scoring match. The ground is small, the outfield is fast and the wicket will be good. So I feel they will back themselves to beat Australia after playing the Afghanistan spinners."

Gambhir highlighted that South Africa defeated Australia in a recent five-match ODI series after losing the first two games. He added that they won't be too concerned about Australia's spin bowling and that they are proficient in playing the seamers in any case.