ICC World Cup 2019 Match 17, Australia v Pakistan: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

The last time Australia and Pakistan faced off in a World Cup clash the world was treated to a fierce bat vs ball mano-a-mano chronicling two cricketers who were crucial to their respective teams’ campaigns. Wahab Riaz’s spell to Shane Watson in the quarter final of the 2015 edition might not have resulted in Watson’s wicket or Pakistan’s win, but the world was alerted, if it was needed at all, to Wahab’s prowess.

Wahab was at it once again at the death in Pakistan’s mercurial comeback against England, when they beat the hosts at their own game, after being hammered by the West Indies a few days earlier.

The washout against Sri Lanka was a dampener, sure, but Pakistan’s in-form batsmen and the confidence their bowlers gained after defending 348 against an England line-up that had chased similar totals Pakistan on four occasions only a month ago will help them breathe easy against the defending champions, when they take on Australia in Taunton on Wednesday, 12 June.

Australia go into this game on the back of a tough outing against India where the bowlers gave away too many and the batsmen couldn’t accelerate well enough to chase down the 353-run target. But there were positives as well – Steven Smith registered another half-century and looked in control for most parts of the match and Alex Carey blasted his way to a 25-ball 50 towards the end of the game. The bowlers, however, need to do better, especially the spinners against a batting line-up in the similar vein as India’s.

The Pakistan batting has flourished since they have arrived on English shores. All of Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman have been among the runs and there’s serious potential in the lower order as well with a hitter like Asif Ali.

There are question marks still over their bowling – England got to 334 – and we might see Shaheen Afridi replacing Hasan Ali, who was had a dull World Cup so far, as Pakistan may look to strengthen their fast-bowling reserves because of the small size of the ground at Taunton, where spinners can go the distance.

Head to head

Australia lead Pakistan 67-32 in ODIs, and the men from Down Under also swept aside Pakistan, albeit a depleted side, 5-0 on their most recent tour to the United Arab Emirates in March this year.

At the World Cup, too, Australia hold the advantage but only just – 5 games to Pakistan’s 4 – having beaten Pakistan in the quarter-final in 2015 and the final at Lord’s 20 years ago.

Key players

Steven Smith (Australia): Smith has scored back-to-back half-centuries in the tournament and has looked in control every time he has come out to bat since being reinstated to the Australian set-up. He has failed to convert those fifties into hundreds, a hurdle he’d like to cross in this match.

Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan): Player of the Match against England, Hafeez has attained form at the right time for Pakistan and his team would look to him to accelerate in the middle overs, like he did against England. He can also be handy with the ball.

Likely XIs

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Afridi.

Prediction

In a clash of death bowlers, Australia win the battle but not by much.