Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc put on ice for final group match against Bangladesh
Smith, Abbott in as Australia make two changes
Australia have rested key men Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc for their dead rubber contest against Bangladesh, with Steve Smith back and Sean Abbott in for his first World Cup match.
Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bowl first on Saturday morning at Pune's MCA Stadium as the Aussies made two changes from the team that pulled off a miracle three-wicket win over Afghanistan earlier this week.
That result locked them into a semi-final spot. They are virtually guaranteed to face South Africa in Kolkata unless Pakistan can beat England by an outrageous margin in today's other match.
The Aussies are wrapping cotton wool around Maxwell, who is still recovering from his taxing double-ton week, and Starc ahead of their knockout clash with the Proteas.
They might have been tempted to rest another bowler – like Starc, captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa have each played in every World Cup match so far – but Cameron Green will remain on the sidelines.
Smith returns after missing the Afghanistan match due to vertigo.
Good batting conditions were expected despite a deluge of rain overnight.
"Looks like a good wicket but early morning, it feels like there might be some swing in the air," Cummins said at the toss for what is only the second day game Australia are playing in this tournament.
"We still probably haven’t played the complete game so hopefully we can take a few early wickets today and then chase down a good total."
Bangladesh have made three changes to their XI.
They are without their star player and captain, Shakib al-Hasan. Najmul Shanto is leading in his stead and Mahedi Hasan has come in to replace him. Like his near namesake, Mehidy Hasan, Mahedi is also an off-spinning allrounder.
Mustafizur Rahman has replaced fellow left-arm paceman Shoriful Islam, while Nasum Ahmed is in for Tanzim Sakib.
Coach Chandika Hathurusingha, the former Sri Lanka batter who has spent time coaching with New South Wales, conceded would Shakib difficult to replace.
"We are actually spoiled. We've had him for a long, long time and when you have someone of Shakib's calibre, number one all-rounder, it's two players in one
"It's hard to do much with the combination. We will definitely want to fill his bowling vacuum with another spinner or a fast bowler. It's batting we're going to miss and his leadership. It's hard."
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs
November 4: Beat England by 33 runs
November 7: Beat Afghanistan by three wickets
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: 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
2023 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