Australia vs Pakistan CWC 2023

Australia vs Pakistan is going to be a tough one for both teams. Pakistan and Australia need to win this match. The Aussies need to win this match more than anyone. They have this World Cup at the stake. This match can prove to be a knockout punch for them if they lose. You can read about all the good stuff, predictions, and more in this article. We will cover the highlights at the end of this page. Check out the ball-by-ball commentary under this paragraph.

Read: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023

Pakistan lost their previous match against India, and that has hurt their morale a lot. Their players have been exposed, and the Pacers haven’t been able to do much. Other than that, they did pretty well against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka matches. They have to win this match to get their lost morale back.

Check: Pakistan Squad for ICC World Cup 2023 [Announced]

The Aussies have to win this match. And the good thing is, they got their players in form during the last match. Adam Zampa took four wickets, Mitchell Marsh made some runs, and David Warner took some stunning catches in the Australia vs Sri Lanka CWC 2023 match. All of this is good for them, but scary for the Pakistan side.

Related: Australia team for ICC Cricket world cup 2023 [Announced]

Live streaming

Pakistan cricket fans can enjoy live streaming in various ways. There are a lot of avenues for them to enjoy these matches live. In this section, we will be talking about those in detail For the rest of the party, we have written a detailed article.

Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Live Streaming

Firstly, fans can enjoy the live streaming on the Daraz App. Daraz has been the live-streaming buddy since the PSL days. It is a household name now. People just know that they can switch to this e-commerce platform and enjoy cricket instead.

Next, cricket lovers in Pakistan can switch to the Shoq app. I personally haven’t used this. However, it is another app to go for if others aren’t working.

The newest edition on the list is Tamasha. Whether you are on your PC or mobile, you can switch to Tamsha and watch the live streaming. I personally use this a lot since I want to enjoy the matches on my laptop. And this is the only free version where I can do it.

This one is not free, but you can go for Tampad. They are an international streaming platform. You can give them a small fee and enjoy the live streaming without any ads, or buffering. The speed is great, and the cricket joy is more.

MATCH PREVIEW – Australia vs Pakistan Cricket World Cup 2023

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Match	Australia vs Pakistan
Match number	18
Match timings	2 pm IST
Date	20 October 2023
Umpires	Chris Brown Richard Illingworth
TV Umpire	Michael Gough
Reserve Umpire	Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee	Richie Richardson

Possible playing 11

Travis Head is back in the squad. He has landed in India and will join the team. But is he going to play? The Aussies have tried with Josh Inglis instead of Alex Carey. And it paid off against the Lankans. So far, the Aussies will not change their playing eleven.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is struggling. There are reports that Abdullah has been quarantined. Pakistani camp is struggling with flu. But they will recover from it. The main problem is Shadab Khan. Pakistan has put a lot of faith in him. However, he has been a flop so far. Reports are that Pakistan will replace him with Usama Mir. But is that the right decision?

Pitch report

This is a batting-friendly pitch through and through. Even Pat Cummins has admitted that the batting will play a huge role in this match. The average score in the ODIs since 2015 is 310. This has made it clear that bowlers are not going to do much. The Pacers have gotten almost seventy per cent wickets here during the IPL. Spinners won’t get much help anyway. Bad news for Zampa or Usama Mir?

Key Players

David Warner and Mitchell Marsh will be detrimental to Pakistan in tomorrow’s match. David Warner in particular has been lethal against Pakistan. If I were to quote some of the things fans have said, “Warner will not score against the world, but would score a ton against Pakistan.”

Glenn Maxwell has a good track record against Pakistan as well. His offspin is going to be the bane for Pakistan. Trust me, if Pakistan won’t give wickets to Starc, they will give them to Maxwell. Jokes aside, Pakistan is struggling against spin. This makes Maxwell and Zampa crucial. But this pitch doesn’t support spinners that much. So good news for Babar and Co?

Rizwan is the highest run scorer for Pakistan in this Cricket World Cup. He has been instrumental in Pakistan’s success against Sri Lanka as well. His ton was the cog in the machine, the main driving force behind that historic run chase, and the glue that binds everything together.

But the batter that has been most lethal against Australia is Babar. He averages more than 70 against them. Australia has to watch out for him.

The key factor that can turn the tables around for Pakistan will be Usama Mir. This is because there is practically no data on him. He is fairly new to the Aussie batters. If they can’t read him, and Usama is able to turn the ball, it will be a menace.

Possible strategies

SCORE AS MANY RUNS AS YOU CAN

On a batting pitch like this, even 400 doesn’t seem that dangerous. Well, I may have exaggerated things here. But you need to understand that even 344 was chased in this World Cup.

Teams have to keep wickets at hand against the pacers initially, and then go ballistic when the ball gets softer.

Predictions

The situation is fifty-fifty here.

If Pakistan is chasing, they have a better chance at winning this game. This is because the bowling from Pakistan has been absolutely horrible in the past few matches. So, if they want to win this match, Pakistan has to chase. And they can chase.

If Australia wants to win this match, they have to restrict Babar and Rizwan. If they can do it, it will be a psychological disaster for Pakistan. They are short on morale, and their top players getting out early will do the damage. Josh and Starc have to buckle up here.

Highlights

Pakistan won the toss and they chose to bowl first. Early wickets for Shaheen?

Playing eleven

PAKISTAN	AUSTRALIA
Imam-ul-Haq	David Warner
Abdullah Shafique	Mitchell Marsh
Babar Azam	Steven Smith
Mohammad Rizwan	Marnus Labuschagne
Saud Shakeel	Glenn Maxwell
Iftikhar Ahmad	Josh Inglis
Mohammad Nawaz	Marcus Stoinis
Haris Rauf	Adam Zampa
Hasan Ali	Mitchell Starc
Shaheen Shah Afridi	Josh Hazelwood
Usama Mir	Pat Cummins

First Innings – Australia

AUSTRALIA 367-9 (50 overs)
BATTING	BOWLING
David Warner 163 (124)	Shaheen Shah Afridi 5-54
Mitchell Marsh 121 (108)	Haris Rauf 3-83
Marcus Stoinis 21 (24)	Usama Mir 1-82
TARGET	368 runs in 50 overs

• An opening partnership of 259 runs! This was quite a show from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. The intent was clear from the first ball. They weren’t going to stop at all. And they didn’t until it was sure that the Aussies were going to score a 400+ target on the board.
• Things could have been a lot different if Usama Mir caught David Warner. However, it was fate. Warner scored to become the man of the match. And if you notice, it has been happening consistently in this tournament. First a dropped catch of Kohli, then Mendis, and now this. Fielding wins your matches too.
• As soon as the boys opened a crack in the innings by taking Marsh’s wicket, the Aussies started to collapse. No other batter could cross the 25 runs. And props to Shaheen and Haris for that.
• Shaheen took 5-54, his death bowling saved Pakistan from a conclusion that could have been a lot worse than the current one.
• Pakistan has to chase 368 instead of a target of more than 400 now. Could they do it? If they did, it could have been the highest total ever chased in a World Cup match, breaking their own record.

Second Innings – Pakistan

PAKISTAN 305-10 (45.3 overs)
BATTING	BOWLING
Imam-ul-Haq 70 (71)	Adam Zampa 4-53
Abdullah Shafique 64 (61)	Pat Cummins 2-62
Mohammad Rizwan 46 (40)	Marcus Stoinis 2-40
RESULT	Australia won by 62 runs

• Pakistan’s past six wickets have been taken for 36 runs. They were right in the chase, needing 103 in 12 overs and led by Iftikhar and Rizwan.
• But Zampa turned things around for Australia with a match-winning spell. He was also clever previously, getting rid of Babar without giving too much away.
• But his last delivery was even better, as he trapped both Iftikhar and Rizwan LBW in successive overs before stumping Nawaz.
• After the opening stand of 134 between Shafique and Imam, the stage was set for Pakistan. They couldn’t hit for hundreds like Warner and Marsh earlier in the day, but they did lay the groundwork for the remainder to come on a pitch that remained better throughout the day.
• The middle order, on the other hand, was unable to carry the game deep enough.
• There were some great shots from Shakeel, Iftikhar, and Rizwan, but Australia, led by Zampa, continued taking wickets.
• So it’s their second consecutive victory as they rebound from a terrible start to the season.
• Still, Pakistan will go back to their camp with a much better result.

Man of the match

David Warner has to be the man of the match today. The way he smacked almost every ball out of the park was quite entertaining. You have to give him that, from the moment he hit Haris Rauf for that 4, it was on for Australia. What a player he is! Obviously, a bane for Pakistani bowlers. Pakistan won’t forget that 2021 T20 World Cup as well, just like they won’t forget these 163 runs.