Australia eye big target despite fall of wickets

Australia Friday went on a rampage against Pakistani bowlers as their openers scored centuries before one of them was dismissed in the World Cup 2023 match being played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

The Aussies are eyeing for a huge target as Pakistan got late wickets in the match.

Mitchell Marsh scored 121 off 108 balls before Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed him, while the pacer also sent Glenn Maxwell packing for a duck. Later, Usama Mir picked up the wicket of Steven Smith (7).

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.

Source: Geo News