2023 10/20 CWC Prediction Pakistan vs Australia: Who Wins?

Australia will clash against Pakistan on Friday (October 20). The world cup contest will be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This is the 18th ODI game that is played in the mega event in India.

World cup journey of Pakistan & Australia so far

This is the fourth game both teams will be playing this tournament, respectively. Australia have won one of three games, whereas Pakistan have won two of their three matches so far.

Australia began their world cup campaign with a heavy loss to hosts India. They were then beaten by South Africa by 134 runs. This dented their campaign and drew criticism to the Australian side.

Pat Cummins’ unit then defeated Australia in the last match by five wickets to open their account as well. THey are at the ninth spot in the points table with only two points.

As for Babar Azam’s side, they are in fourth spot with four points in the bag. They have beaten the Netherlands and Sri Lanka so far. However, they lost a high-pressure match to India in Ahmedabad just days ago.

They were heavily under fire by critics not just in India, but back in home as well, for collapsing from 153-2 to 191 all out against India. The hosts then went on to chase the meager target with almost 20 overs in hand, thanks to a blistering knock by captain Rohit Sharma.

Pakistan vs Australia Comparison

The two sides have played 107 ODIs against each other with the Kangaroos winning 69. Pakistan has won only 34 games, and three matches ended without a result.

In ODI world cups, Pakistan and Australia have shared the stage 10 times and Australia has won six contests whereas Pakistan beat them four times.

The odds and past records are in favour of Pat Cummins and co, but Pakistan’s ability to turn out with their A game makes them a formidable opponent as well.

In ICC events in general, Aussies have had the better of the Men in Green, including their latest meeting in warm-up game where Australia beat them by 14 runs in a high-scoring match.

The two sides last met in a world cup in the 2021 T20 World Cup in semi-final where Matthew Wade anchored the team to win from the jaws of defeat as he scooped Shaheen Shah Afridi for consecutive sixes over keeper’s head to win the contest.

Aaron Finch, who was the Australia captain back then, went on to lift the trophy.

This definitely means that the Australians have a mental edge over Pakistan. They perform better than Babar Azam’s unit when it comes to crunch moments and high-pressure games, and perhaps that is what has made them such a successful side in ODI world cups.

Pakistan vs Australia Pitch Condition

The Bangalore wicket is a typical Indian wicket that supports batsmen, especially in 50-over games. It is a tad flat, but also supports bounce and pace. This means bowlers will also have to utilize short-length balls well, but they can expect to get smashed if they don’t pitch the ball in right areas because the ball will come onto the bat nicely without any extraordinary swing.

Short boundaries and fast outfield means that it is likely to be a high-scoring game.

As the game will progress, it is likely to support spinners as the wicket will gradually break. Wrist spinners like Adam Zampa can make hay of such situations.

The team that bats in the second innings tends to have a better stroke-play with the bat.
Pakistan vs Australia: Probable player of the match

Mohammad Rizwan

Rizwan is the highest run-getter in the tournament so far (248 runs in three matches). His unbeaten 131* against Sri Lanka has boosted his average to over 120.

The wicket-keeper batsman has gotten runs in every game in India so he will be a potent weapon for the Men in Green in the middle overs.

He tends to play spin better than most players in the Pakistan side which has made him a very successful batter in India. His sweep shots help him alleviate dangers posed by wrist spinners.

Australia will want to get rid of him as early as they can so that they can feast on the batting tail and be done with Pakistan’s batting line-up in a jiffy.

Marnus Labuschagne

There was a time days before the world cup when Cricket Australia was not even considering sending Marnus Labuschagne to India for the world, and now he’s become their key batter in the mega event.

The right-handed batsman has been able to thwart both pacers and spinners reasonably better than other Australian batters.

He has, however not been able to get his team off the finish line, but the way he has been picking runs indicates that a big score is just around the corner for him.

Hasan Ali

On pure batting paradises, Hasan Ali has been able to trouble almost every opener he has played against so far. With the new ball, he has been the most effective bowler for Pakistan, even more accurate than Shaheen Shah Afridi.

He has picked seven wickets in just three games already, just a wicket less than the tournament high wicket-taker, Jasper Bumrah.

If he continues to pitch in the right areas like he has been so far, the Australia openers will have to toil hard to combat his bowling.

His out-swinger to right-handed batsmen that he pitches at a good length often entices the batters to go for a cover drive and they end up edging to either the keeper or slips.

Although Hasan is coming off an injury and a long-hiatus, he has not let the criticism get to his head.

Pakistan vs Australia Match Prediction

Here is our prediction for Pakistan vs Australia 2023 Cricket World Cup, considering their past records, the Aussies seem to be the favourites to win the record.

History tells us that no matter what happens in their bilateral series, Australia tends to sweep Pakistan away in pressure games in the ICC events.

Pakistan are riding low on spirits after a demoralizing loss to their arch-rival India, so to imagine them coming out all guns blazing against Cummins’ men will be highly unlikely.