Key events
A bit of pre-match reading
Australia have a mixed World Cup record against Pakistan: six wins, four defeats. There was a very costly collapse at Perth in 1992 but the most significant meeting was one of cricket’s great anticlimaxes: the 1999 final.
Preamble
Rob Smyth
Hello. For a team in the bottom half of the table, Australia are in surprisingly good shape. This week’s shock results have undermined England and South Africa, two probable opponents for a semi-final place, and victory over Pakistan today would seriously damage another.
On the hypeometer, this game is somewhere big and huge. In a couple of weeks time, we may reflect that it was decisive in, well, deciding who made the last four. So far the teams have had pretty similar tournaments. Both have lost to India, both have beaten Sri Lanka, both have lamented the absence of key players.
Both also know that World Cups are usually about peaking at the right time. In 1992, Pakistan had to win their last five games to become world champions. Seven years later, Australia saw that and raised it to seven. (Yes, yes, I know technically they didn’t win one of them, but tell that to Allan Donald.)
While Australia and Pakistan aren’t quaffing in the last-chance saloon yet, they’re certainly in the neighbourhood. Yep, this is a biggie. Who knows, we might even get the first thriller of the tournament.
Play starts in Bengaluru at 2pm IST/7:30pm AEDT/9:30am BST
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