AUS vs NL 5th Match Prediction

AUS vs NL Team Previews

Australia

The five-time World Champions’ preparations have been far from perfect as the ODI World Cup approaches. They have lost back-to-back ODI series against South Africa and India and will need to work harder if they want to continue the stellar record in the marquee event.

Much of Australia's patchy form can be attributed to the injuries plaguing some of its key players. Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell have all missed some matches to recover and that has cost Australia dearly in terms of performance.

However, they have since recovered and are likely to feature in the warm-up matches. Looking at the positives, David Warner has been in excellent form of late, scoring 3 consecutive half-centuries in India. Marnus Labuschagne has done well too, and in all probability will replace an injured Travis Head.

The middle-order batting hasn’t been very consistent and that will be something that the team will improve upon. The pace attack trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood isn’t in the best of forms either as they have been leaking runs during the first Powerplay as well as during the death, Australia will have to ponder on a second spin option.

Ashton Agar hasn’t been 100 percent fit, while Glenn Maxwell has only just recovered, leaving a void during the middle overs. 

Netherlands

After finishing at the bottom of the Super League table, the Netherlands had to take a longer route through the Qualifiers to book a spot in the main event. They put up an inspiring performance there to trump the likes of West Indies and Zimbabwe to earn their fifth-ever appearance at the main event.

The Netherlands will rely heavily on its all-rounders to deliver the goods in this match. Bas De Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, and Logan van Beek are all quality players who are capable of contributing to all departments of the game.

Vikramjit Singh has been pretty consistent at the top of the order and will likely open the batting with Max O’Dowd. Skipper Scott Edwards will be a vital cog in the middle order alongside Wesley Barresi, while the likes of Colin Ackermann and Shariz Ahmed will provide depth to the batting.

Coming to the bowling, Logan van Beek will be the spearhead of the pace attack and will have the support of Ryan Klein and Paul van Meekeren. The Netherlands however is a bit lacking when it comes to the spin department. Aryan Dutt is the lone full-time spinner and the team will have to depend on the services of van de Merwe and Ackermann should the need arise.

The Netherlands are also not the best players of spin bowling and that can be a big weakness on the Indian pitches.