PAK vs AUS 8th Match Prediction

PAK vs AUS Team Previews

Pakistan

Pakistan played its previous match with what is quite likely to be its first-choice batting lineup. Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul Haq seem to be the preferred pair with Fakhar Zaman as the backup. Pakistan could choose to rest one of the batters to give Fakhar Zaman a chance to stake his claim as well. 

Babar and Rizwan played substantial innings while Saud Shakeel impressed with his power in the middle. The players that did not bat much in the previous match like Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, or even Mohammad Nawaz will be the ones that will be given a chance to get some time in the middle. 

We expect a slight change in the bowling lineup with Shaheen Afridi coming into bowl but overall, Pakistan will not look to expose its bowlers too much to Australia's batters. The real onus will be to see which spinner can find rhythm as they build to their opening match of World Cup 2023. 

Australia

Australia may absolutely no bones about the fact that they are looking at the World Cup warm-up matches as a formality they have to perform. There was no attempt to play with any intensity or to replicate any kind of match conditions. 

The Australians have been in India for quite some while and played three gruelling matches against India just a week back. They are accustomed to the conditions and will probably approach this match against Pakistan in much the same manner as their previous one. 

The idea will be to just have fun, give as many of its players a hit, and not bother too much about the result. Just like a net in the middle. 

Players like Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins, or even Marcus Stoinis could find themselves batting in the top order. The bowling will likely feature as many bowling options as possible just so that everyone can get used to rolling their arm over. 

Such an approach could put Australia in a losing situation, not that they would really care about it.