Australia v Pakistan | 17th Match, World Cup | Taunton | June 12, 2019 | Pre-match Discussion

[Ronaldo7]

There are 5 days left till the pak vs aus match begins but forecasts show heavy rain like it was predicted for today. I know the forecast is 5 days ahead so might be wrong but when heavy rain is forecasted with such high probability it is usually correct.
If this match gets washed out as well how will it affect Pakistan's chances of making it to the semis??

BBC weather:https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2636177

 

[Bhaijaan]

That is one match most Pak fans would be happy to take 1 points from as a result of a washout. Given the kind of form Aussies are in.

 

[Ronaldo7]

That is one match most Pak fans would be happy to take 1 points from as a result of a washout. Given the kind of form Aussies are in.

But that would mean pak will have to win the 4 games out of the last 5 to qualify due to their poor NRR.

They'll be on 4 points which is equivalent to 2 wins off 4 matches.

 

[Hasan123]

The forecast could change . Too early to say.

 

[PakLFC]

We need to defeat the Aussies. Taking a point against them will not be good enough after what has happened today.

 

[Bhaijaan]

But that would mean pak will have to win the 4 games out of the last 5 to qualify due to their poor NRR.

They'll be on 4 points which is equivalent to 2 wins off 4 matches.

Australia are overwhelming favourites anyway. Better to get out of it with one point than zero.

 

[Zaz]

Australia are overwhelming favourites anyway. Better to get out of it with one point than zero.

So were england and we know what happened there Odds and favourites mean very little when pakistan is playing

 

[geraltofrivia]

So were england and we know what happened there Odds mean very little when pakistan is playing

yeah but you lost against windies

 

[Ronaldo7]

Australia are overwhelming favourites anyway. Better to get out of it with one point than zero.

One point won't do much for us coz we're unlikely to win 4 out of the next 5 games.

 

[Syed1]

That is one match most Pak fans would be happy to take 1 points from as a result of a washout. Given the kind of form Aussies are in.

It's a spinning track and Aussies were reduced to 79/5 in the last match. Windies were also cruising to victory for the most part while batting they would have taken the match had they not all been T20 mercenaries.


Pak have just beaten the tournament favs and I wouldn't have put past us to down Australia as well.

 

[MRSN]

Australia are overwhelming favourites anyway. Better to get out of it with one point than zero.

We already have one point to negate our poor NRR so I don't think 1 point against Aus will help us in any way because we will have to win next four games despite 1 point against Aus. It's a gamble we should take. If we win our equation becomes easier and if we lose we still have to win four games any way.

 

[MRSN]

Right now where equation stands is..we have 6 games and we have to win four out of six so even if the Aus game washed out we still need to win four out of next five. So it's really important for Pak that this game is not washed out.

 

[zulfiqar]

Washout against Australia would be disastrous for our campaign! We needed wins against both these teams. India & NZ are more dangerous sides and we needed some breathing room against those two. I guess we have to pretty much win everything now

 

[aloo paratha]

That is one match most Pak fans would be happy to take 1 points from as a result of a washout. Given the kind of form Aussies are in.

Nah, I back our team to be competitive against the Aussies.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Don’t think 6 matches wins will really be needed in a tournament where rain will spoil many matches.

I actually see someone with 9 points having a shot at the semis

 

[Mkumar825]

Don’t think 6 matches wins will really be needed in a tournament where rain will spoil many matches.

I actually see someone with 9 points having a shot at the semis

11 point with NRR

 

[mon858]

Don’t think 6 matches wins will really be needed in a tournament where rain will spoil many matches.

I actually see someone with 9 points having a shot at the semis

i agree with this. 6 wins is a guarenteed spot but even 5 or 4 potentially could land the 4th spot on table. also keep in mind there are upsets happening as well.

 

[ARK Rafay]

yeah but you lost against windies

But we won against England

 

[mon858]

Nah, I back our team to be competitive against the Aussies.

did you forget the 5-0? australia are tough not just skills wise but mentally as well. they were in almost similar spot as us against WI around 39/4, 70odd/5 but went on to 289 instead of 105. among all remaining teams i see the two likely losses being Aus/India. so i would take 1 points for those games if coming and look to beat the rest which are relatively easlier AFG, BAN, NZ, RSA.

 

[zains_rulez]

Pakistan got two matches wiped out , more to go...

 

[Ronaldo7]

did you forget the 5-0? australia are tough not just skills wise but mentally as well. they were in almost similar spot as us against WI around 39/4, 70odd/5 but went on to 289 instead of 105. among all remaining teams i see the two likely losses being Aus/India. so i would take 1 points for those games if coming and look to beat the rest which are relatively easlier AFG, BAN, NZ, RSA.

5-0 against our z team. If we had played with our main team we would have been a lot more competitive.

 

[hisham_ashraf]

11 point with NRR

A team with 11 points and a poor nrr will most certainly qualify for the semi finals.

 

[Sarwar89]

Suppose it is a washout. That will take us to 4 points.
Lets suppose India wins 16th June encounter.
That will leave Pakistan to win 4 out of remaining 4 matches.

South Africa
Nzl
Bangladesh
Afghanistan.

A single loss out of those 4 matches will put us on 10 points with poor NRR. That will not be enough.

 

[hisham_ashraf]

One point against Australia would do nothing for Pakistan.Pakistan needs to win 4 out of the last 6 matches now.With odd points,net run rate should not be a problem unless there are more washouts.Ideally Pakistan should be able to beat Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and NZ so that even if they lose against Aus and Ind they would still qualify but knowing Pakistan they might beat Aus on wed and then lose to Afghanistan.
It's so frustrating to see that the match against one of the weakest teams got washed out but it is what it is and it would be really nice for Pakistan if they win one out of the next 2 matches.

​

 

[Markhor]

Flat track but small ground and one of the more spin friendly grounds in England.

Play Imad and Shadab, plus Hafeez.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Suppose it is a washout. That will take us to 4 points.
Lets suppose India wins 16th June encounter.
That will leave Pakistan to win 4 out of remaining 4 matches.

South Africa
Nzl
Bangladesh
Afghanistan.

A single loss out of those 4 matches will put us on 10 points with poor NRR. That will not be enough.

Considering our poor luck, one of the those 4 matches may get washed out too

 

[mon858]

5-0 against our z team. If we had played with our main teami we would have been a lot more competitive.

i honestly cannot recall accurately, but were Warner, Starc, Smith playing in that series?

 

[Ronaldo7]

i honestly cannot recall accurately, but were Warner, Starc, Smith playing in that series?

I honestly cannot recall accurately, but were 10 off our 15 WC players playing in that series?

 

[mon858]

Suppose it is a washout. That will take us to 4 points.
Lets suppose India wins 16th June encounter.
That will leave Pakistan to win 4 out of remaining 4 matches.

South Africa
Nzl
Bangladesh
Afghanistan.

A single loss out of those 4 matches will put us on 10 points with poor NRR. That will not be enough.

you're assuming that our NRR will continue to stay very poor till end of tournament and no other team will take hit on NRR as well. its possible we can surpass the NRR of the one team that is also ending on 10 pts at the end. We can try to aim for that against BAN/AFG by putting on 350+ and aiming to get them all out on lower score. Also, if we play Indian spinners fine (like even 50 off their 10 over for 1 wicket loss), we have good chance of beating them this time.

lets take it 1 game at a time and not worry about end. bottom-line is as of now we had only 1 bad game against WI and team bounced back very well and looking fairly good to be the 3rd or 4th best team out of the 10 that we see playing. At present the 4 best teams i see in this world cup based on cricket played so far are Australia, India, Pakistan and England. lets see how things pan out but RSA are pretty much out, AFG/BAN/SRL would have very hard time winning against much higher ranked teams, and WI/NZ may still have outside chance, but they are heavily reliant on couple of players, have weak 4th/5th bowlers, no very good spinner, weak against spin themselves, and don't seem to have the maturity to succeed in tough situations, so at the moment I feel they will miss out but lets see.

 

[Sarwar89]

you're assuming that our NRR will continue to stay very poor till end of tournament and no other team will take hit on NRR as well. its possible we can surpass the NRR of the one team that is also ending on 10 pts at the end. We can try to aim for that against BAN/AFG by putting on 350+ and aiming to get them all out on lower score. Also, if we play Indian spinners fine (like even 50 off their 10 over for 1 wicket loss), we have good chance of beating them this time.

lets take it 1 game at a time and not worry about end. bottom-line is as of now we had only 1 bad game against WI and team bounced back very well and looking fairly good to be the 3rd or 4th best team out of the 10 that we see playing. At present the 4 best teams i see in this world cup based on cricket played so far are Australia, India, Pakistan and England. lets see how things pan out but RSA are pretty much out, AFG/BAN/SRL would have very hard time winning against much higher ranked teams, and WI/NZ may still have outside chance, but they are heavily reliant on couple of players, have weak 4th/5th bowlers, no very good spinner, weak against spin themselves, and don't seem to have the maturity to succeed in tough situations, so at the moment I feel they will miss out but lets see.

One advantage which Pakistan has is that its last match is against Bangladesh. By that time they will know whether they need to increase NRR or not. So far things are in control but i ll prefer that at Tauton its not a washout.

 

[Rayyman]

I'd make one change. Imad in for Asif.

Imam, Fakhar, Babar, Hafeez, Sarfraz*+, Malik, Imad, Shadab, Wahab, Hasan, Amir

 

[Hawkeye]

Date in the thread title is wrong..

Gave me a heartache for a moment. Can't wait 10 days.

 

[Iffitheking]

Correct it it's not 17th June, it's 12th June.

 

[Minnowbasher]

This is good not bad. Imagine losing to Australia after Sri Lanka wash out.

 

[The Viper]

Date in the thread title is wrong..

Gave me a heartache for a moment. Can't wait 10 days.

Changed.

 

[AAli98]

70% chance of rain...
1% chance of Pak victory

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Possibly our most important game of the group stages

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Flat track but small ground and one of the more spin friendly grounds in England.

Play Imad and Shadab, plus Hafeez.

Same bowling.no need

 

[Markhor]

I'd make one change. Imad in for Asif.

Imam, Fakhar, Babar, Hafeez, Sarfraz*+, Malik, Imad, Shadab, Wahab, Hasan, Amir

We don't need Shoaib Malik.

 

[imranyounus]

Hope for clear skies. A cloudy day will benefit Australia as ball might move around.

Overall Australia are not as good as England. The last match was lost bu Windies rather than won by Australia. even after they allowed them to post big total Windies were still in for a real chance to win.

so if condition are good I believe we can beat them.

 

[usmanraheel]

I hope it doesn't rain! I think we would do well against Australia as long as we can play Cummins well.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

I hope it doesn't rain! I think we would do well against Australia as long as we can play Cummins well.

Starc tho phal bechne aaya hai

 

[Titan24]

We don't need Shoaib Malik.

There are atleast 3 left handers in Aussies top and middle order so Malik's off spin can be handy. Imad was milked by aussies in UAE so not sure about him.

 

[emranabbas]

80% odd chance of rain its more likely it will rain

 

[CricFan2012]

5-0 against our z team. If we had played with our main team we would have been a lot more competitive.

Australia were without Warner, Smith, Starc, it evens itself out.

 

[Titan24]

Australia were without Warner, Smith, Starc, it evens itself out.

Fakhar, Babar, Hasan, Amir (Played 1), Wahab, Shadab, Sarfaraz, Asif Ali, Shaheen, Hafeez, Imam (Played 2). I dont think so it evens itself out, though thats just my opinion.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Guaranteed semi finals spot for Pakistan.

Case A: If it doesn't rain Pak needs to win 3 out of these 4 games

Aus, Ind, Nzl, Saf

That will leave Pak with 13 points (given pak wins against Ban and Afg)

Case B: If it rain then need to win two out of these three games

Ind, Nzl, Saf

That will leave Pak with 12 points (given pak wins against Ban and Afg)

 

[Ronaldo7]

Australia were without Warner, Smith, Starc, it evens itself out.

That same team beat Ind. So...

 

[CricFan2012]

Fakhar, Babar, Hasan, Amir (Played 1), Wahab, Shadab, Sarfaraz, Asif Ali, Shaheen, Hafeez, Imam (Played 2). I dont think so it evens itself out, though thats just my opinion.

My bad, I thought we were only without a couple, but that is a good bunch, although Wahab would have fared badly in a bilateral.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Fakhar, Babar, Hasan, Amir (Played 1), Wahab, Shadab, Sarfaraz, Asif Ali, Shaheen, Hafeez, Imam (Played 2). I dont think so it evens itself out, though thats just my opinion.

Wdym by played one, played two?

 

[Markhor]

80% odd chance of rain its more likely it will rain

UK weather forecasts this far out in advance are unreliable. But the Met Office gives it a 40-50% chance.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pakistan will take on Australia after solid 9 days of rest. Australia will be taking on them after INdia match on 9th.

 

[Sarwar89]

UK weather forecasts this far out in advance are unreliable. But the Met Office gives it a 40-50% chance.

Only 40% threat of rain that too between 10-2 PM, as per met office. This match will not be a washout, at most it might be a reduced 30-35 over match.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Only 40% threat of rain that too between 10-2 PM, as per met office. This match will not be a washout, at most it might be a reduced 30-35 over match.

It will most likely be a washout.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2636177

 

[barah_admi]

I think the Pak batting line up scores a lot better than Aus but the Aussies have a better bowling unit. All of this makes for a fun game which Id rather watch than another wash out.

 

[Sarwar89]

Lets see then if this remains the same till Tuesday. The percentage of rain chances.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Already this world cup is turning into a frustrating world cup. Inconsistent pitches. Inconsistent weather. Typically this format is supposed to be exciting with less teams more or less evenly balanced. Few more rain interrupted matches it will turn into an ultimate borefest.

 

[Hasan123]

UK weather forecasts this far out in advance are unreliable. But the Met Office gives it a 40-50% chance.

50% chance is a stupid rating. That means it will rain or it will be hot. That isn't a reliable rating. We will just have to wait until game day. Even today's weather was originally showing all day rain and the weather cleared up later .

 

[Green Patriot]

Date in the thread title is wrong..

Gave me a heartache for a moment. Can't wait 10 days.

If it's a washout,as is being predicted,we will have to

 

[Mueez]

Guaranteed semi finals spot for Pakistan.

Case A: If it doesn't rain Pak needs to win 3 out of these 4 games

Aus, Ind, Nzl, Saf

That will leave Pak with 13 points (given pak wins against Ban and Afg)

Case B: If it rain then need to win two out of these three games

Ind, Nzl, Saf

That will leave Pak with 12 points (given pak wins against Ban and Afg)

So was the rain a blessing in disguise?

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

If it's a washout,as is being predicted,we will have to

Noo wayyy

Ye bhi washout?

 

[ARK Rafay]

So was the rain a blessing in disguise?

We'll see but if the game against Australia is washed out that helps Pakistan because then Pakistan can afford to lose one out of the rest 3 big teams and still make it to semis

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Anyways it's being played in Taunton. Aussies are clueless vs Spin. Put Imad Wasim in place of Asif.

CHoke Aussies with Hafeez, Shadab, Malik, and Imad spin. Should be an easy win if we get 30 overs of spin in.

 

[Pete Rose]

That west indies game, is like an albatross around our neck. Have to find a way to win against Australia.

 

[Inswing]

I'm only worried about starc and cummins. If somehow we can see off their overs then a big score can be made. While their batting is quite fragile to spin so we should choke them with hafeez, malik and shadab.

Hasan, Amir and Wahab have to rise otherwise our hopes of going to semi's will be done and dusted just in this match.

 

[Green Patriot]

Noo wayyy

Ye bhi washout?

Unfortunately thats the forecast for now.
But lets see.weather,especially in England,can be unpredictable and wednesday is still quite a few days away so lets hope for the best.

 

[fight_club]

This Aussies side is no mug against spinners. They have handsomely beaten India in India and handled their spinners with great ease.

You need to be at your absolute best to beat this Aussies team something we managed against England too

 

[QalandarFan]

I swear if we get another one of our matches rained out!

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Why are people suggesting to bring in Imad, when we actually won a game without him against the number 1 team and lost most if not all of those 11 games with him included in the line-up?

First of all, all this talk of Australia weak against spin isn't true. They are now capable of handling all sorts of bowling with ease compared to other teams. Also, pitches haven't been that supportive for spin bowling as we thought they would and Taunton ground has rarely been used in recent times, let's wait for NZ vs Afg game to analyze it properly.

Secondly, even if they play fast bowling better than spin, still Imad isn't a spinner who can work against them with his legside darts. He won't be effective and we all saw how toothless he was in UAE of all places against the same team who were actually missing their best players.

Finally, one thing that was keeping Imad Wasim in the team was his batting in the absence of a finisher, but now he is a walking wicket who has been brutally exposed against short ball, on which he stands still in the crease and swipes his bat like a baseball top edging it each time like a tailender without any useful contribution. One can only imagine how would he fair against 2 of the best short bowl exponents (Mitchell Starc and Patrick Cummins) that too at 145 Kph.

It's better to leave him out and stick with Shoaib Malik whose bowling looked much better than Imad last game and also considering the fact that Australia have 3 lefties in Top 7 just like England.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Unfortunately thats the forecast for now.
But lets see.weather,especially in England,can be unpredictable and wednesday is still quite a few days away so lets hope for the best.

Omggg i hate these washouts so much :/

Kher Is mai bhi Allah nay behtari likhi ho gi so i shouldnt be like this.

 

[Rana]

Pak should back themselves to win this. Match needs to take place!

 

[Rifaqat]

Why are our matches (apart from against India) always on a weekday? So difficult for those of us who work in the Uk to watch the full game

 

[Hasan123]

Why are our matches (apart from against India) always on a weekday? So difficult for those of us who work in the Uk to watch the full game

South Africa game is on a Sunday. I think the Afghanistan or Bangladesh is on a Saturday.

 

[BalluBalleBaaz]

Aussies will come out more aggressive than English. Hoping for a well fought game by both sides.

 

[chinaman00]

you're assuming that our NRR will continue to stay very poor till end of tournament and no other team will take hit on NRR as well. its possible we can surpass the NRR of the one team that is also ending on 10 pts at the end. We can try to aim for that against BAN/AFG by putting on 350+ and aiming to get them all out on lower score. Also, if we play Indian spinners fine (like even 50 off their 10 over for 1 wicket loss), we have good chance of beating them this time.

lets take it 1 game at a time and not worry about end. bottom-line is as of now we had only 1 bad game against WI and team bounced back very well and looking fairly good to be the 3rd or 4th best team out of the 10 that we see playing. At present the 4 best teams i see in this world cup based on cricket played so far are Australia, India, Pakistan and England. lets see how things pan out but RSA are pretty much out, AFG/BAN/SRL would have very hard time winning against much higher ranked teams, and WI/NZ may still have outside chance, but they are heavily reliant on couple of players, have weak 4th/5th bowlers, no very good spinner, weak against spin themselves, and don't seem to have the maturity to succeed in tough situations, so at the moment I feel they will miss out but lets see.

The unprofessional nature of Pakistan cricket means that one has to always assume the worst until proven wrong.

 

[Captain caveman]

We need to defeat the Aussies. Taking a point against them will not be good enough after what has happened today.

In the group stage, we have no realistic chance of beatimg them. They are the best team in the wc by a distance.
So take the point!
We will have 4 points from 4 games , which is on track for what i predicted and will keep us on track to qualify for the semis.

 

[aloo paratha]

did you forget the 5-0? australia are tough not just skills wise but mentally as well. they were in almost similar spot as us against WI around 39/4, 70odd/5 but went on to 289 instead of 105. among all remaining teams i see the two likely losses being Aus/India. so i would take 1 points for those games if coming and look to beat the rest which are relatively easlier AFG, BAN, NZ, RSA.

11 of the players from that squad aren't even in the World Cup team. 3 of the 4 who are in didn't even play last game. That Australia series hardly told us anything.

 

[Hawkeye]

Why are people suggesting to bring in Imad, when we actually won a game without him against the number 1 team and lost most if not all of those 11 games with him included in the line-up?

First of all, all this talk of Australia weak against spin isn't true. They are now capable of handling all sorts of bowling with ease compared to other teams. Also, pitches haven't been that supportive for spin bowling as we thought they would and Taunton ground has rarely been used in recent times, let's wait for NZ vs Afg game to analyze it properly.

Secondly, even if they play fast bowling better than spin, still Imad isn't a spinner who can work against them with his legside darts. He won't be effective and we all saw how toothless he was in UAE of all places against the same team who were actually missing their best players.

Finally, one thing that was keeping Imad Wasim in the team was his batting in the absence of a finisher, but now he is a walking wicket who has been brutally exposed against short ball, on which he stands still in the crease and swipes his bat like a baseball top edging it each time like a tailender without any useful contribution. One can only imagine how would he fair against 2 of the best short bowl exponents (Mitchell Starc and Patrick Cummins) that too at 145 Kph.

It's better to leave him out and stick with Shoaib Malik whose bowling looked much better than Imad last game and also considering the fact that Australia have 3 lefties in Top 7 just like England.

Excellent post.

The management isn't going to disturb the winning combination either.

Imad will hopefully stay out and give us a chance of winning our next few games. He wastes a very vital spot.

 

[Hawkeye]

If it's a washout,as is being predicted,we will have to

Someone above said the washout can help us get to the semis. If so, I wouldn't mind it.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

people here are underestimating this pakistani side.
when they are in upswing they are hard to beat.