If Australia's World Cup campaign really has turned a corner, they absolutely need to get a win against a Pakistan team still smarting from their last-start loss to India
Australia v Pakistan: All you need to know
After dropping their first two matches, Australia desperately need to continue to string victories together. Pakistan meanwhile, will be hoping their crushing defeat to India was merely an aberration and that a return to their winning ways will come on Friday in Bengaluru.
Match facts
Who: Australia v Pakistan
When: Friday October 20. Coin toss at 7pm AEDT, first ball at 7.30pm AEDT (2pm local)
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and Nine
Officials: Richard Illingworth and Chris Brown (standing), Alex Wharf (third), Michael Gough (fourth)
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Unplayable Podcast
The Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir
Australia are still waiting on Travis Head to join their touring party and is due in a handful of days but until then they have 14 fit players to choose from.
The Pakistan camp has been shaken by a viral infection running through the group over the past few days, affecting star bowler Shaheen Afridi and several others. Thankfully though, none experienced dengue symptoms and it's now expected that all will be available for selection on Friday. Pakistan were dealt a big blow on the eve of the tournament with young pace sensation Naseem Shah ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Local knowledge
Chinnaswamy Stadium, nestled right in the heart of the traffic-congested Bengaluru, is generally considered a great place to bat with scores over 200 in T20s and scores over 300 in ODIs fairly regular. The average score batting first here in ODIs since 2010 is 303 in fact, with India captain Rohit Sharma averaging a whopping 109.25 here from four knocks.
Australia has a decent recent record here too, with three wins from their previous five matches.
Glenn Maxwell has played plenty here with his side Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Steve Smith (131) hit a century the last time Australia played an ODI in Bengaluru in a seven-wicket loss to India. The Aussies also played two matches here in the 2011 World Cup, beating Kenya by 60 runs and Canada by seven wickets. Pakistan's last appearance at the venue was a T20I during their last bilateral tour of India in 2012-13, beating the hosts by five wickets with two balls to spare.
Probable Starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoins, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Australia went into the Sri Lanka match unchanged and will likely do the same on Friday. While rumours swirled around regarding captain Pat Cummins' spot in the side, he was arguably Australia's best bowler on Monday. If the Aussies continue to win the conversation around rotating the pace bowlers might begin, but until then it will be Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Josh Inglis' fifty and Marcus Stoinis' 20no off 10 will keep Alex Carey and Cameron Green out of the side a little longer.
Assuming everyone is fit following the squad's viral infection, it's hard to see Pakistan making any drastic changes from the side that lost to India by seven wickets as their core XI is settled and has played the past two matches. They have the option of replacing Imam ul-Haq with Fakhar Zaman if they want a bit more power in the opening position, while the experienced Iftikhar Ahmed might be feeling a bit of pressure from allrounder Salman Ali Agha. If Pakistan choose to go in with an extra spinner, Haris Rauf will make way for Usama Mir.
Recent form
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: WLLWLLLLLW
Australia snapped their losing streak with a much-needed result against Sri Lanka in Lucknow and desperately need the Ws to continue if they stand any chance of qualifying for the semis. With only two wins from their past nine ODIs it’s a form guide that doesn't make for pretty reading but wicketkeeper Josh Inglis says the side's focus is "peaking at the right time".
Pakistan: LWWLLWNWWW
Pakistan swept their series against Afghanistan in August before having a disappointing Asia Cup which saw them miss the final. However two matches in Hyderabad to begin the World Cup both netted positive results, an 81-run win over the Dutch and a six-wicket win against the Lankans. They were however soundly beaten in their last outing, against India in Ahmedabad (seven wickets).
World Cup Standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Last time they met
Australia took on Pakistan in Hyderabad in the second of their warm-up fixtures prior to the tournament where the Aussies posted 7-351 (Glenn Maxwell 77, Cameron Green 50no and Josh Inglis 48) and after David Warner, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne bowled 14.4 overs of spin between them as the frontline bowlers rested, Pakistan almost chased it down. Skipper Babar Azam retired on 90 with less than 100 runs to win, highlighting the casual nature of the pre-World Cup hit-out where winning or losing was secondary.
Prior to that, Australia last met Pakistan in three ODIs in March last year following their historic Test tour of the subcontinent nation. Warner, Smith, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins all rested following a gruelling 15 days of Test cricket as the hosts won the series – played solely in Lahore – 2-1. Babar and opener Imam-ul-Haq each hit two centuries while Travis Head and Ben McDermott tonned up for the Aussies. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Adam Zampa each claimed six wickets for the series, with the leg-spinner taking 4-38 in the first ODI, his best figures on the subcontinent.
Head-to-head
Overall: Australia (69 wins), Pakistan (34 wins), tied (1), no result (3)
Past 10 years: Australia (15 wins), Pakistan (3 wins)
Most runs: Ricky Ponting (1107), Javed Miandad (1019), Mohammad Yousuf (1016), Steve Waugh (1003), Inzamam-ul-Haq (991)
Most wickets: Wasim Akram (67), Glenn McGrath (57), Shahid Afridi (49), Brett Lee (38), Shane Warne (37)
Australia have won four of their last five 50-over World Cup matches against Pakistan stretching back to the 1999 final, with their only defeat a four-wicket loss in Colombo at the last tournament hosted in the subcontinent in 2011.
Other stats
- Adam Zampa (147) is three away from becoming the 11th player to take 150 wickets for Australia in men’s ODIs and the third spin bowler (Shane Warne, Brad Hogg); if Zampa achieves the milestone in this match (89*), he’d be the third fastest player to reach it for Australia (Mitchell Starc – 77 matches and Brett Lee – 82 matches)
- David Warner (4) is one away from equalling Ricky Ponting (5) for the most hundreds for Australia in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup history; Warner has scored a century in each of his last three ODI innings against Pakistan (130, 179, 107)
- Mohammad Rizwan (1,941) is 59 away from scoring 2,000 runs for Pakistan in men’s ODIs; he has scored 40+ runs in seven of his last eight ODI innings (67, 44, 63*, 2, 86*, 68, 131*, 49)
Where to next?
Australia head to the nation's capital Delhi to tackle the Netherlands while Pakistan's next assignment is a clash with Afghanistan in Chennai.