After opening their account at the third time of asking Australia bid to make up more lost ground when they take on Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru on Friday
Australia
Australia began their tournament with a 6 wicket defeat to India and things got no better when they crashed to a 134 run defeat to South Africa in their second outing.
That left Australia at the foot of the standings and under pressure for their third match against Sri Lanka but they bounced back with a 5 wicket victory. Batting first Sri Lanka put on 125 for the first wicket but then collapsed to209 all out with Zampa taking 4 wickets.
At 24/2 Australia were in early trouble in their reply but 50's for Mitch Marsh and Inglis steadied the ship and they got home in 35.2 overs for a net run rate boosting victory.
Squads and Team News
This was how Australia lined up last time out.
Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Did not play: Sean Abbott, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Cameron Green
Pakistan
In contrast Pakistan started started with two victories before losing their third match. Their opening games were both staged at Hyderabad and first up they beat the Netherlands by 81 runs. Next time out they chased down Sri Lanka's bat first total of 344/9 with tons from Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan to win by 6 wickets.
Last weekend Pakistan clashed with India and they lost by 7 wickets. A solid enough start including 50 for Babar Azam and 49 for Rizwan had Pakistan at 162/3 in the 33rd over but wickets came in a clump thereafter and they were all out for 191 in 42.5 overs. India were always comfortable in the chase and got home with the best part of 20 overs to spare.
Squads and Team News
This was how Pakistan lined up last time out.
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Did not play: Agha Salman, Fakhar Zaman, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 107 times with Australia winning 69 to Pakistan's 34 with 1 tie and 3 no results.
The most recent meetings came in a 3 match series in Pakistan in March / April 2022 and Pakistan came from behind to win 2-1.
In CWC 2019 (in England) Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs.
The Betting
Australia are currently trading at around 0.57/1 to win the game and Pakistan can be backed at around 5/4
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
This is the first match of the tournament to be staged at Bengaluru so a pitch report will be worth a check.
I'm first looking to the Sportingbet price boosts and Babar Azam to score a 50 caught the eye
Thereafter a couple of top bowler bets with Cummins getting the nod for the Aussies and Haris Rauf for Pakistan
Bets: Azam to make a 50 was 12/10 now 1.75/1 with Sportingbet
Top Australian Wicket Taker Pat Cummins at 7/2 with Sportingbet
Top Pakistan Wicket Taker Haris Rauf at 11/4 with Sportingbet
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Discussion Forum
More tips, news and views are available on the CWC thread on our discussion forum. If you are new to our community you can open an account here.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
