AUS vs PAK 3rd Match Prediction

AUS vs PAK Team Previews

Australia

Australia is one of the hardest places to tour not only because of the conditions but because of how much better their own players perform there. Australia's leading players all have home records that are vastly superior to their away records which makes them very resilient as a unit. 

In this series so far against Pakistan, Australia has had massive contributions from David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc. All of these players are also expected to play in the third Test at Sydney with a particular focus on David Warner who will be playing his last Test. 

Can Warner go out with a bang? We think so. He is going to come hard at the Pakistani bowlers and may be able to put them under pressure. Marnus Labuschagne is also another player who seems to have done the hard work in the previous match to make a big contribution. 

Australia's batting is in good shape and even if there are a few early wickets, they have the depth to be able to fight back. 

The bowling attack that Australia has is just incredible. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood have not been at their best but Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon have more than made up for it. Lyon could have another brilliant test with spin-playing a massive role from the third day onward. 

Everything is loaded in favor of the Aussies. The only real risk here is if the pitch starts to spin early and lacks too much pace, which could bring the Pakistani bowlers into play. 

Pakistan

Pakistan showed a lot more intent and fight in the previous match with the bat but was also more effective with the ball. That is where it managed to create more chances and actually push Australia on the back foot. Unfortunately, Pakistan's catching remains horrendous and it let go of several opportunities that were easy even by club standards. 

Did Pakistan actually play better than Australia in the previous match? For a brief period of time, maybe, but that is not enough to win a Test match. Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan seemed to be the two players who were comfortable counter-attacking but got out before making their starts count. 

Shan Masood has been the best batter in the Pakistani camp and his battle against Nathan Lyon is particularly intriguing. Does Pakistan have enough batting depth and talent to be able to actually win against Australia? Probably not.

Its bowling attack looked so much better after Mir Hamza joined the playing eleven. There have been reports about Shaheen Afridi being rested for this final test but we don't think that will happen. There is no update on the availability of Abrar Ahmed but if he does play, that could make Pakistan's bowling attack a lot more dangerous. 

One of the problems with the Pakistani team is the lack of runs from Babar Azam. He is the lynchpin and someone who was expected to make a massive contribution. His weakness against the incoming deliveries is becoming a real issue. If Azam is able to shed off his inhibitions and play freely, he may give Pakistan a chance to compete. 

Overall, though, we don't think Pakistan is going to be able to get a win but it may be able to compete once more.