WC 2019: Hurt Australia, unpredictable Pakistan! A mouth-watering prospect, weather permitting

Tags: Cricket World Cup 2019, Australia, Pakistan, Australia Vs Pakistan,17th Match at Taunton,Jun 12, 2019

Published on: Jun 11, 2019

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Having been undone by India, Australia would like to get their World Cup campaign back on track when they face Pakistan in Match number 17 of the Indian Premier League at Taunton on Wednesday. The Aussies would not have it easy though as an inspired Pakistan would be gunning for another big fish.

Australia have usually got the better of India at World Cup tournaments over the years. This Sunday though the defending champions ran into a different India. Their usually reliable bowling suffered, which is where they lost the game. Everyone from Mitchell Starc to Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile to Adam Zampa struggled, a rarity for Australia.

Looking at the team combination, Marcus Stoinis struggled against India with bat and ball. So, the think tank might toy with the idea of bringing in Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff or perhaps even Nathan Lyon at the expense of Adam Zampa. David Warner's lack of fluency would be a cause of worry for Australia but otherwise their batting seems in good nick. Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell have been fluent while Alex Carey has lifted his game to an incredible level.

Pakistan go into the match with their last contest against Sri Lanka being washed out due to rain. Before that though they stunned hosts and favourites England by putting up a professional batting performance. It was an incredible turnaround after being rolled over by West Indies but nothing unexpected as Pakistan have the knack of going from ragged to ruthless. They would be pleased with their batting effort, especially from Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam but would love Fakhar Zaman to fire.

Australia whitewashed Pakistan 5-0 in the build up to the World Cup. That certainly wouldn't be on their minds though. It is just one match and Pakistan would be keen to go in all guns blazing. The experience of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz came to the fore against England in a crunch situation. Riaz is known for coming up with brilliant spells in the World Cup, and his duel against Shane Watson is legendary. The Aussies would not expect to have it easy.

Above all though the rain gods need to relent and stop playing dampener.

Squads

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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