Pakistan face Australia in World Cup today

Aussies need win to stand a chance of finishing in the top four spots

FE Team | Published: October 19, 2023 23:17:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (Agencies): Babar Azam and his men face the five-time champions Australia on Friday, with star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi struggling for form and opening batter Abdullah Shafique weakened by a fever.
Both Shafique and Afridi rejoined the team in practice at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday and are available for selection, but questions remain over the 1992 champions' form going into their fourth match of the tournament.
Pakistan won their opening two matches in contrasting style but were handed a seven-wicket loss at the massive Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad last week, where they were subjected to hostile behaviour by the partisan crowd.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council over "inappropriate conduct" towards its players during the match.
Azam was booed at the toss while video on social media appeared to show several Pakistan players including Mohammad Rizwan being abused by Indian fans.
The team is now back in the southern part of India, where they will play their remaining seven matches and will hope to garner similar support to their two wins in Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad crowd cheered when Shafique and Rizwan scored centuries in Pakistan's record run chase of 345-4 against Sri Lanka.
"Win or lose is part of the game," said Rizwan, who has scored 248 in three innings.
"We have lost to India, but if you see we had also won two matches. We have to match our skills with our game awareness … we can't say we are behind the world."
Australia, on the other hand, face an even more precarious situation after losses to India and South Africa. Victory over Sri Lanka was a small step toward the knockout stage, but their batting lineup remains a concern.
Apart from Josh Inglis, no Australian batsman has scored a fifty in the tournament. Marnus Labuschagne is the only one with more than 100 runs in total. Mitchell Starc has more runs than key batters like Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.
Australia's bowlers, including Starc, Adam Zampa, and Josh Hazlewood, have been trying to maintain control, but captain Pat Cummins hasn't consistently replicated his red-ball cricket performance in the white-ball format.
To address these issues, they must navigate the batting-friendly conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Pakistan and Australia have met on 10 occasions, and while Pakistan have won four matches, the losses inflicted by Australia have been big and impactful.
Australia began their resurgence in the tournament by bundling out Pakistan for 132 in the 1999 Cricket World Cup final at Lord's Cricket Ground. They chased the target in 29.5 overs for the loss of two wickets.
They also beat Pakistan in the 2015 tournament en route to winning the title at home and in 2019 once again, their sixth Cricket World Cup win over the team in green.
Australia recovered from its opening losses to India and South Africa to get its first points with a victory over Sri Lanka, moving off the bottom of the standings.
Australia's chances of making the semi-finals of the World Cup could well hinge on the outcome of this game against Pakistan.
Defeats to India and South Africa in their opening two matches mean that Pat Cummins' side can likely only afford to lose a maximum of two more games and quite possibly just one more in the remainder of their group-stage fixtures if they are to stand a chance of finishing in the top four spots. And a loss to Pakistan, who already have two wins to their name, would be a particularly significant blow to the five-time winners' hopes of adding a sixth title to their country's men's Cricket World Cup tally.
Pakistan's disappointing loss to India last time out was a setback after a strong start.
Pakistan, having seen off the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, then suffered a seven-wicket humbling by arch-rivals India.