Veteran sports journalist weighs in on wobbling Aussies eying victory against Pakistan's curveballs. Here is what he has to say about this clash of titans.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Ayaz Mehmed with the World Cup Update. It's Australia vs Pakistan. How important
00:05 is this match for both teams? Pakistan ahead on points, they've got four, Australia only
00:09 two. But remember in the last match, Australia beat Sri Lanka quite convincingly while Pakistan
00:15 were hammered by India. And, you know, I mean, if Australia have got the kind of booster
00:22 shot that it needed to get going in this tournament, maybe it came in the last match because Adam
00:28 Zampa, their spinner, was amongst the wickets. He had failed rather badly in the earlier
00:35 two matches, including against India in the opening game. And where Pakistan, in fact,
00:39 they are struggling with their spinners. Their batsman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, got
00:44 going against India, but the bowling was still found wanting. There's Shaheen Shah Afridi,
00:49 who bowled quite skillfully, but it's become a situation where opponents realise that they
00:55 need to see four or five overs of Shaheen and they are then more secure. And the other
01:00 bowlers are just not delivering. Not Haris Rauf, despite his extreme pace, he's becoming
01:05 easy pickings on these pitches, Indian pitches. And most, you know, worryingly for Pakistan,
01:12 Shahdaab Khan, their leg spinner, has not got going. Certainly not with the ball, not
01:16 even with the bat because he has acknowledged also as an all-rounder. So it's going to be
01:21 tough for Pakistan. This match is being played in Bangalore. We don't know how the pitch
01:24 will behave, but Pakistan really need to bring their A game to the table if they want to
01:29 beat Australia. Australia have their own issues. David Warner, Steve Smith, not amongst the
01:34 runs. Warner and Labushen when they get together, not, I'm sorry, Smith and Labushen when they
01:40 get together, the scoring gets a little tardy. They had a half century from England in the
01:45 last match, which came as sucker to their batting, which has been struggling a bit.
01:50 But their bowling is coming along. Mitchell Stark has looked sharp. Pat Cummins amongst
01:54 the wickets. Josh Hazlewood has been consistent. He didn't get wickets in the previous match.
02:00 And then of course, there's Maxwell who comes in and picks up a wicket or two. So, I think,
02:06 I mean, you know, this is such a crucial match for both teams to get ahead in the points
02:11 table and also with a sight on the players in the semi-finals. Pakistan, if they win
02:17 this match, get that much closer to reaching that semi-final spot. If Australia don't win
02:23 this match, then they move further, move closer to relegation. Because that's still far away.
02:30 But this is a really crucial match for both teams, no doubt.
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