Bengaluru, OCT 20: Opening duo David Warner and Mitchell Marsh Friday hammered Pakistan bowlers after Babar Azam decided to bowl first in their fourth World Cup 2023 match, played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Usama Mir, who was inducted into the side in place of Shadab Khan, dropped a sitter at mid-on off Shaheen Afridi. Australia were at 11/0 in the fifth over when Warner’s catch was dropped.
The batters then made Pakistan pay for the mistake as none of the bowlers was able to restrict the flow of runs.
The Babar Azam-led team has so far won two out of three total games played, while Pat Cummins side has only managed to secure one win out of its total three matches in the tournament.
For today’s match, Pakistan have rested Shadab Khan and brought in Usama Mir as his replacement.
Pakistan skipper termed the pitch at the Chinnaswamy stadium “good”. He said his side is now confident after a couple of good sessions and time to rest. Babar, however, spoke about the Green Shirts’ need to bat better, as they didn’t perform well against the arch-rivals India.
Meanwhile, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins said his side would have bowled first too had they won the toss, but were also fine with batting.
The Australian captain found the wicket “really good” and spoke about his team’s energy against Sri Lanka during their last win in the event. Cummins hopes his team will display the same performance against Pakistan as well.
“Same side, everyone’s good to go,” he said.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
