Australia take on Pakistan in match 18 of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Bengaluru on Friday, October 20. This is Australia’s fourth game of the tournament and the first in Bengaluru.
After back-to-back defeats in their opening two games, Australia finally won their first game against Sri Lanka. They chased down 210 with five wickets to spare and inside 35 overs. The Aussies will now seek to carry forward the momentum.
They will need to notch up big wins to pick themselves up in the points table. Against Pakistan, they have a favourable record in World Cups which should be a big confidence booster for the side.
Travis Head who was picked in the World Cup squad is likely to miss the Pakistan clash. However, he is expected to be picked for the Netherlands match on October 25 as per reports. He is expected to leave for India on Thursday.
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Australia will be playing this match in Bengaluru. Their bowlers will be tested as they will bowl to smaller ground dimensions. Chinnaswamy is a batting-friendly wicket and thus bowlers from both teams are expected to go for runs. Azam Zampa having picked four wickets will take confidence from his last game into this one with the Pakistani batters currently struggling against both pace and spin.
In this article, we predict Australia’s XI for their match against Pakistan. Having just won against Sri Lanka, they would not change their winning combination.
Australia Playing 11 vs Pakistan – ICC World Cup 2023, Match 18
David Warner
Warner will open the innings. He Scored 41 off 52 balls against India. Against South Africa, he scored 13 off 27 balls. He has to perform against Sri Lanka for his team to win the match. The southpaw just scored six against Sri Lanka. He is yet to score a fifty in the tournament.
Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Marsh scored a duck against India. He scored 7 off 15 against South Africa. He scored 51 off 52 deliveries against Sri Lanka and played his part in getting his team their first win of the tournament. He will hope to kick on from here.
Steve Smith
Steve Smith will bat at three. Against South Africa, he scored 19 off 16 balls before he was given out rather controversially. Smith scored a duck against Sri Lanka. he will need to play well against the Pakistani spinners in the middle-overs.
Marnus Labuschagne
Labuschagne replaced Agar in Australia’s World Cup squad on the back of his good form with the bat. He scored 27 against India and 46 against South Africa. He scored 40 off balls and formed key partnerships with the lower-middle-order.
Glenn Maxwell
Maxwell will slot in at five. He is playing his third World Cup and needs to be a matchwinner for his side. He scored just 15 and went wicketless against India. Against South Africa, he scored just three and picked two for 34 with the ball. Against Sri Lanka, he scored 31 off 21 balls to take his side home.
Marcus Stoinis
Stoinis scored 20 off 10 balls and helped Australia get over the line against Sri Lanka. He bowled just two overs against Sri Lanka but is expected to bowl a lot more against Pakistan in Bengaluru.
Josh Inglis (WK)
Inglis is expected to be selected ahead of Alex Carey after he scored 58 off 59 balls against Sri Lanka and won the match for Australia with the lower order. The wicketkeeper has played just 10 ODIS and 12 T20Is for Australia.
Pat Cummins (C)
Cummins will bat at eight and lengthen the Australian batting. He scored 15 off 24 balls and went for 33 in almost seven overs against India. Against South Africa, he scored 22 off 21 deliveries and went for 71 runs off his spell. against Sri Lanka, he picked 2/32.
Mitchell Starc
Starc will bat at nine. He picked two for 43 against Sri Lanka. He has been a bit below-par in this World Cup so far picking just five wickets from three games. He was the highest wicket-taker in the last World Cup.
Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood went wicketless against Sri Lanka. He is having a tough World Cup so far and is not within the top 15 wicket-takers. He can hit a consistent length and needs to do that against Pakistan.
Adam Zampa
Zampa concludes Australia’s likely XI against South Africa. He was expensive against India going for 53 runs in his eight overs and went for 70 off his 10 overs against the Proteas. He finally picked up four wickets against Pakistan.
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