Australia vs Pakistan: Expect a high scoring decider
The five weeks of highly competitive cricket tour have finally reached the decider we all can look up to. The touring side has been phenomenal in Tests as well as ODI. Pakistan has won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Babar AzamAfter the hosts lost the three-match Test series, the stage is well set for the decider of the ODI series. While after the first ODI, it looked like an easy series win for Australia, Pakistan pulled off the highest successful run-chase in their ODI history in the second match to level the series.
Pakistan’s consistent batting line-up
In the second ODI, Pakistan showed commendable batting performance, especially Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam, who scored centuries. They successfully chased down a mammoth target of 348 runs with one over and six wickets left. The two have been the most consistent players for the team in both series. While the two have taken care of the batting, the bowling department is of concern. They have failed to contain Australian batters under a good score that can be chased despite winning the toss to bowl first. In the previous match, Babar Azam, who scored their 15th ODI ton, became the fastest to reach the feat in just 83 innings.
A new but great talent with Australia
On the other hand, Australia has been quite competitive throughout the series, especially with their bat. They won the first game quite comfortably but were outplayed in the second one. Bowlers failed to perform well in the second ODI, as they couldn’t figure out any way to silence Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq’s batting. In the absence of their key players who left for the Indian Premier League, Australia has many great finds for the future. Ben McDermott looks very promising if he stays consistent and develops in key areas
Pitch Report
The pitch in the first two ODIs has been flat, and many runs were scored. Not just achieving, a target of as big as 348 was chased down comfortably with 1 over remaining. Therefore, we can expect another high scoring match in the decider as the pitch is expected to be similar. The Pacers might do well with the new ball; however, the game is going to be dominated by batsmen.
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohamamd Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Zahid Mahmood
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Sean Abott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Swepson
Pakistan will be very eager to win the test series after losing by 1-0. Whereas Australia, having won the Test series, will now be all confident about the ODI series win. Australia last lost a bilateral multi-game ODI series against Pakistan in 2002. It will be worth watching if visitors will be able to steal this series’ win and leave hosts in dismay.