Australia suffered their first loss of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup on Sunday night as they went down to a dominant Indian team by 36 runs. The Aussies will be back in action this Wedensday night, facing off against Pakistan from 7.30pm (AEST).
We have a full preview and betting tips for the game below.
Cricket World cup Australia vs Pakistan Betting Tips
The two teams will be familiar with eachother after having just played a five match ODI series in the United Arab Emirates in March. Australia won the series 5-0 although three of the games were narrow wins.
Australia
After two strong performances against Afghanistan and the West Indies to open the tournament, Australia were outclassed by India in Game 3. Batting first, the Indians put on 127 runs for the first wickets and continued the onslaught throughout the innings, compiling a total of 352 off their 50 overs, highlighted by a brilliant hundred by opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Pat Cummins was the pick of the bowlers and really, the only bowler that wasn’t destroyed by the Indian batsmen as Match Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis all had economy rates of over 6.00.
The Australian innings got off to a promising start with David Warner and Aaron Finch putting on 61 for the first wicket before an avoidable run out derailed the innings. The Aussies fought back to be 3/238 before losing 4/45 to all but crush their hopes of chasing down the monster total. Steve Smith was once again the pick of the Australian batsmen after moving up to No.3 in the order and scoring 69 off 70 balls.
Nathan Coulter-Nile was a standout performer in Pakistan earlier this season, taking seven wickets to lead the series in just three of the five games. The paceman is great value to top the wicket column for Australia.
Coulter-Nile top AUS wickets
$5.50
Pakistan
Pakistan have a 1-1-1 record through three matches so far in the World Cup after their scheduled game against Sri Lanka was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Friday night. They were disappointing against the West Indies in their opening game but shocked the cricketing world by defeating England by 14 runs in Game 2.
Contrary to strong Pakistan performances in the past, it was their batting that stood up against England. All of the top five batsmen in the line-up scored 36+ runs and Mohammad Hafeez top scoring with 84 off 62 balls as Pakistan compiled a monster total of 348.
Interestingly, Pakistan’s top run scorer in the five match series against Australia in March was Haris Sohail, who was dropped from the Pakistan outfit after scoring just eight runs against West Indies in their tournament opener. Sohail scored 291 runs at an average of 72.75 in the series and could be in line for a recall on Tuesday night. At $6.00, we think he is great value for top Pakistan scorer.
Haris Sohail top PAK runs
$6.00
Prediction
Pakistan were outstanding against England but inconsistency in ODI cricket has been their calling card over the past five years. They regularly cause massive upsets and look like one of the best limited overs sides in the world only to come off the boil in their next game or series. No better example was their win at the ICC Champions Trophy two years ago. Pakistan went on to win just two of their next eight ODI series following the trophy, with those wins coming over minnows Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Tough to see the Pakistani team competing with a fired up Australian side following the loss to India. Back the Aussies to get this one done as a great anchor leg for a multi.
