The Aussies kicked off their three match ODI series against Pakistan with a win on Tuesday night. The series remains in Lahore for the 2nd clash on Thursday night from 9.00pm.
Check out our full preview and betting tips for the 2nd ODI between Pakistan and Australia below.
Pakistan vs Australia 2nd ODI Betting Tips
Gaddafi Stadium, Thursday 31st March, 9.00pm (AEDT)
Predicted XIs
Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman 2 Imam-ul-Haq 3 Babar Azam (capt) 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Iftikhar Ahmed 7 Khushdil Shah 8 Mohammad Wasim Jnr 9 Haris Rauf 10 Zahid Mahmood 11 Shaheen Afridi
Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt) 2 Travis Head 3 Ben McDermott 4 Marnus Labuschagne 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Cameron Green 7 Alex Carey (wk) 8 Sean Abbott 9 Nathan Ellis 10 Adam Zampa 11 Mitchell Swepson
Match Prediction
The Aussies got off to a brilliant start batting first in Tuesday night’s game on the back of Travis Head. Opening the batting, Head blasted 101 off just 72 balls to set up a a great total of 313 for Australia. There was also solid contributions from Aaron Finch (23), Ben McDermott (55), Marnus Labuschagne (25), Marcus Stoinis (26) and Cameron Green (40). In fact, the only player in the top seven to really miss out for the Aussies was keeper Alex Carey.
Pakistan sorely missed their spearhead Shaheen Afridi and his ability to take early wickets. If he has recovered from a niggle that he sustained batting in the nets prior to the first game, then he will certainly be back in the line-up for game two and will bolster the Pakistani bowling attack.
In reply, Pakistan could only muster 225 in their run chase, but the form of Imam-ul-Haq continues to impress as he recorded his third hundred of Australia’s tour of Pakistan. Babar Azam also looked impressive, scoring 57 in the chase before being dismissed by Mitchell Swepson.
Adam Zampa was the best of the Australian bowlers. The white ball specialist took 4/38 off his 10 overs while the Aussies other spinners in Travis Head and Mitch Swepson both chipped in for two wickets each.
The weather will be hot and dry once again in Lahore, and the pitch will likely be conducive to a big total for the team batting first as it has been for the entirety of this series regardless of the colour of the ball.
Pakistan made an interesting decision to bowl first on Tuesday night and I think if they win the toss again on Thursday night, they will likely opt to bat first instead. Runs on the board while the pitch is completely flat and rock hard has been the play throughout this tour and I think the team batting first on Thursday night has a massive advantage.
Without knowing the result of the toss or whether or not Afridi will be back in the line-up, its hard to make a prediction on this game. All of the stats trend in the Aussies favour though.
They have won their last 10 ODI’s in a row against and have lost just one of their last 17. The last time Pakistan beat Australia in an ODI at Gaddafi Stadium was all the way back in 1988, when Ben McDermott’s father Craig was running around for Australia.
Prop Bets:
Aaron Finch Under 28.5 Runs ($1.83 at Ladbrokes)
Babar Azam to Score 50+ ($2.25 at Ladbrokes)
