ICC CWC 2019 Aus vs Pak preview: Washout looms as Aussies take on Pakistan

Australia will be wary of the danger Pakistan pose as the latter must have taken a cue on where to hurt the defending champions the most, especially after their loss to India

Australia cricket team would be perplexed after losing to India at the Oval on Sunday and the side would look to return to winning ways as they face Pakistan cricket team in their next match at the ICC World Cup 2019 at County Ground Taunton on Wednesday. Adding to their woes, all-rouber Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of their match against Pakistan and Mitchell Marsh has been added as a backup. On the other hand, Pakistan had their previous match against Sri Lanka washed off but the side stunned England after a prolific all-round performance by the team. The forecast predicts light drizzle during the match hours so it remains to be seen if there will be no match for third straight day in the tournament. 

CHECK MATCH 17 (AUS vs PAK) LIVE SCORE, TOSS UPDATES and MATCH COMMENTARY HERE

Check ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table here
 

Pakistan's bowling is so powerful that England's batting line-up, currently the best in ODIs, faced some reality check and they will be in for another hunt as they face another strong batting line-up. Australia's batting looked shaky against India as David Warner and Aaron Finch could barely challenge the initial attack by Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

Australia will be wary of the danger Pakistan pose as the latter must have taken a cue on where to hurt the defending champions the most. Australia, however, can put pressure on Pakistan if Mitchell Starc strikes early and remove a batsman or two. Mohammaz Hafeez and Shoaib Malik can use their experience and help Pakistan in middle overs with bat as well as ball.

Australia discovered a big-hitter in Alex Carey in their match against India and he could be of much use to Aaron Finch just in case there is early collapse. Steve Smith would remain the go-to batsman for Finch as the batsman has two half-centuries in as many games.

Australia's batting prowess was most visible when they fought back from 79/5 to post a total of 288 thanks to Smith's 73 and Nathan Coulter-Nile's rear guard assault which saw him scoring 92 runs, so, Pakistan cannot just relax with early wickets.

If Pakistan remains consistent throughout the match, there are high chances they can ease past Aussies but a lot depends on how the pitch remains at Taunton.

Australia vs Pakistan head-to-head 

Total matches played- 09

Australia- 05

Pakistan- 04

Key players:

Australia key players: Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith

Pakistan key players: Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman

Australia vs Pakistan playing 11 prediction
 

Pakistan playing 11: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir

Australia playing 11: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

ICC World Cup 2019, Macth 17: Australia vs Pakistan Live streaming details

Date and Day: June 12, 2019, Wednesday.

Place: County Ground Taunton

Time: 3:00 pm IST, 10:30 am local time

The World Cup 2019 Australia vs Pakistan match live streaming will be available live on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 in English Commentary and Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD in Hindi Commentary. The live streaming of the World Cup 2019 Australia vs Pakistan match will be available on Hotstar.

Squads

Australia full squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Pakistan full squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & W), Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain