Australia face Pakistan in a tasty second round tie of the quarter final of the world cup as one side will be looking to strike the defining blow in Adelaide.
The game will be played at a certain pace, which is the domination of pace. Australia go in with arguably the most threatening of the pace bowlers with Mitchell Starc being the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 16 and fresh off his demolition of the scots with a more than impressive 4 for 14 of just under 5 overs.
Pakistan however have been dealt a big blow going into their game against the Aussies as their other lead pace man Mohammed Irfan has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a stress fracture to his pelvis, the 7ft 1 bowler took eight wickets so far with best figures of 4 for 30 against Zimbabwe.
Although the men in green also have their pace threats in Wahab Riaz who is sitting on 14 wickets so far and clocked in at a measly 154 kmph. Sohail Khan will also be a more than capable threat to the Aussies, he took 5 for 55 earlier in the tournament against India.
Although Riaz, Khan and co will have to take their form and more into the quarter final tie with the destructive Aussie top order which includes David Warner who nicknamed ‘The Bull’ is one of the cleanest hitters in the game can take the game away from the opposition with the bat. Apart from his 178 against Afghanistan he hasn’t managed to surpass the mid 30’s, which means he could well be due a big score which the Pakistan side will be weary off.
Australia will be seen as favourite’s in Adelaide, although Pakistan will take slight comfort as their first World Cup triumph was there in 1992, the Aussie’s will mull over their defeat against the green men last October in the UAE where the Aussie’s perhaps struggled to adapt to the slow rhythm paced pitches. But Adelaide will be a different story.
Australia’s only defeat came against fellow hosts New Zealand in a surprisingly low scored tie losing the game by just 1 wicket, and for Australia’s washed out tie against Bangladesh they finished on a respectable 9 points.
Pakistan finished on 8 points including an impressive 29 run win over South Africa dismissing them for just 202.
The Aussies will overall be seen as favourites but the men in green will defiantly be looking to provide an upset over the host’s.