23rd over: Australia 149-1 (Warner 52, Smith 1) Oof! What an over from Amir He has been the pick of the bowlers this morning, the only one to hit that good length consistently, and he finds it repeatedly at the start of his second spell. Finch went unnecessarily hard at one to throw his wicket away but Warner has shadow batting to a couple that sliced through him. It goes to show how testing this surface could have been had Pakistan found their range sooner.
@JPHowcroft oof, Australia are going to get over 400 aren't they? Is this Pakistan being much worse than India, or India being really good against Australia a few days ago?
— Vinod Raghavan (@vinnyr) June 12, 2019
Pakistan have not played well so far.
WICKET! Finch c Hafeez b Amir 82 (Australia 146-1)
Out of nowhere, a breakthrough! After offering two previous chances Finch is finally caught. He’ll be disappointed with his shot too, launching at the first delivery of the returning Amir only to sky a thick edge that was taken soundly by Hafeez in the covers.
22nd over: Australia 146-0 (Finch 82, Warner 50) It’s hard to discern a bowling strategy from Pakistan this morning. Amir showed the way early and Wahab’s deck-hitting has hinted at a plan B but there has been a lot of thoughtless dross in and around that. Hasan is the latest to disappoint, missing with his line and length and front foot in a poor over.
21st over: Australia 137-0 (Finch 79, Warner 44) Australia were happy to milk Hafeez in his second over but Finch can’t resist going the tonk this time around. To balls three and four he hoicks powerfully over midwicket for consecutive sixes - clickety click in bingo money. Effortless and brutal. Pakistan are flailing.
20th over: Australia 122-0 (Finch 66, Warner 43) Hasan Ali gets another go and he’s in the right areas often enough but this partnership is in cruise control now, just turning the strike over at will.
Sarah O’Regan’s back. “Me again. Pakistan’s bowlers seem to be employing my questionable bowling technique - I’m known as a slow, non-spin bowler. Still, at least I’m enthusiastic about it, and it’s not my day job. Put some welly into it, lads!” Indeed. It has been a poor showing, enlivened once every couple of overs by one that does something off a length. Wahab has shown a bit of back bending can produce results but it needs to be backed up in the field and from both ends, which it hasn’t.
19th over: Australia 117-0 (Finch 63, Warner 42) Much tighter from Hafeez’s second over. His old school middle-overs darts keep Australia to three singles and a leg-bye.
18th over: Australia 113-0 (Finch 61, Warner 41) Shaheen’s over after drinks is a textbook example of Pakistan’s issues this morning. When he hits the right length the pitch looks juicy and in the bowler’s favour but he only does that once and from the other five deliveries Australia accumulate proactively.
There’s been a few of you helping out Derek Stocker - you’re a lovely bunch - recommending he seeks out Guerilla Radio for an unofficial commentary feed, and also that if he goes to the ICC’s homepage he can access BBC TMS. Thanks to all of you who contributed.
A quick catch-up on the correspondence that’s been flooding in following Andy Bull’s column on the difficulty to access the World Cup on TV in the UK.
Tom Wellman: “Can’t agree more with Andy Bull, James Walsh et. al. This World Cup is going to pass without being noticed by the public at large, even if England win it. Staggering short-termism by the ECB. I’ve seen more brains in a pork-pie, to quote the inimitable Yorkshireman.”
James Maltby: “Not wishing to bang on about the highlights, and Andy’s article is spot on, but... I finally caught up on the ENG v BAN highlights last night. What a fantastic job they did of capturing the building tension of the opening overs as I’d experienced it listening live on TMS, as Bangladesh’s canny opening bowling restricted Roy and Bairstow to a handful of scoring shots, while the England pair showed surprising maturity and patience picking off the rare bad ball before accelerating beautifully from mid way through over five. Oh no, of course they didn’t. You just got the opening run, any boundaries, and it all looked like a cakewalk. Grrrrr. If they showed highlights of Flintoff’s perfect over at Edgbaston 2005 they’d only show the wickets... Can we have fewer replays and a bit more sense of the ebb & flow?”
Alistair Connor: “May I suggest an architectural analogy to the cordoning-off of TV access to the World Cup. I once attended a concert (early Baroque) in a cathedral equipped with a rood screen (or jubé, as it was in France). The orchestra, and a small number of monied spectators, were seated in the choir, and I, with the hoi polloi, was in the nave. We could see nothing of the musicians (there were a couple of CCTV screens, for what that’s worth). The acoustics were fine; our seats were cheap; the optics were horrible. Never again. To paraphrase Wikipedia, throughout Europe, in the Catholic countries, rood screens were mostly removed during the Counter-Reformation, when the retention of any visual barrier between the laity and the high altar was widely seen as inconsistent with the decrees of the Council of Trent. That’s Trento in Italy, not the cricket ground. But it’s a clue for what is needed, perhaps.”
17th over: Australia 106-0 (Finch 58, Warner 38) Time for spin and Mohammad Hafeez, and - oh dear - another drop! This was tougher than Asif’s but still gettable. Finch got a thick edge to a wide one outside off but it ricochets straight out of Sarfraz’s gloves with the keeper up to the stumps. Finch reacts by bludgeoning the right-arm offie down the ground for four, slashing him through the covers for four more, then completing the set with a high and handsome flick over midwicket for six! Australia have ridden their luck this morning but they are now rampant. Pakistan only have themselves to blame.
16th over: Australia 91-0 (Finch 44, Warner 38) Better from Shaheen, finally, beating Finch with one that just misses off stump then follows it up with a nice inducker that clips the pad and prompts an outrageous celebrappeal. After five strong deliveries the good work is undone by a limp dive by mid-on allowing a checked drive to scuttle through for four.
“Dear Jonathan I have been the organiser of the mighty Dulwich 7th XI’s annual tour to Somerset on the Whitsun bank holiday weekend since 2008. We have had around 50 matches scheduled over that time (won only about 5 but hey we are the 7th XI). Anyway, we’ve only had a couple or so games washed out over the years. Perhaps more importantly in the context of today’s game, experience shows that any forecast suggesting showers late in the day is likely to be wrong. There’s always a lovely glow at the end of the day and expect nothing less today. We will get a full match today, I assure you. On a side note, we’re always looking for ringers so do let us know if anyone willing to play with a bunch of mediocre, middle-aged (some are a tad older I must admit) cider-swilling egotists? Up your strasse? Best, Pan ‘Pangry’ Pylas, Tour Organizer of Dulwich 7th XI annual tour to Somerset.”
15th over: Australia 86-0 (Finch 40, Warner 38) That was an all-action over from Wahab. Aside from the LBW shout there was almost a run-out at the non-striker’s end, Finch was roughed up by the first proper bouncer of the day and the speed gun topped 90mph for the first time. Still, Australia survive and are now very handily placed.
Review unsuccessful
It didn’t look out to the naked eye but improves somewhat with DRS showing the ball pitched in line with leg stump and wasn’t bouncing that high despite being short of a length. However ball tracking eventually ends with umpire’s call, height being the issue and the ball just clipping the bails - which as we know is no given this World Cup.
Pakistan Review!
Wahab is convinced he has Finch LBW but it’s declined onfield.
14th over: Australia 79-0 (Finch 37, Warner 34) Pakistan are simply bowling too short. It’s poor cricket. Australia’s batsmen are just waiting on the crease, nudging ones and twos and collecting the boundaries when they’re available. Not for the first time this morning Warner works one effortlessly off his hip behind square for four. Shaheen has gone for 35 off his four overs so far. The policy fo both sides not to select a front line spinner looks like being a miscalculation.
Sticking with frustration at TV coverage, Derek Stocker can’t even get the radio! “GGGGGGGGrrrrrrrr. So blinking frustrated. I am an OAP living in Bulgaria which may as well be a chunk of space rock bouncing off the atmosphere. I cannot understand why the BBC radio coverage keeps coming up - this is not available in your location. Bad enough that I cannot afford to breach the paywall but not being able to listen is a slap in the chops with sticks. Thank goodness I can stay with the Guardian and get my cricket jollies from your typed commentary.”
13th over: Australia 76-0 (Finch 35, Warner 33) Oh dear, it’s going from bad to worse for Pakistan. Finally the first chance of the day is created but ASIF ALI GRASSES FINCH AT SLIP. Wahab slanted one across the right hander at pace, Finch threw the kitchen sink at it but could only send an edge flying straight to Asif just in front of his face but the ball bursts the fingers and runs down to the third-man boundary. Insult is added to injury next ball with four glanced off Finch’s hip to fine-leg.
Updated
12th over: Australia 65-0 (Finch 25, Warner 32) Shaheen’s back for his second effort after he wasted the new ball. His radar is slightly better but now he has two set batsmen to bowl to and they’re waiting on the crease to bunt those unnecessarily short deliveries around for ones and twos.
Ian Forth is a fan (like me) of Steve Rhodes leaning on manking putting a man on the moon to advocate for reserve days. “Love the ‘man on the moon’ reach. I was in a meeting recently where my colleague claimed the task he’d set his team was “hardly rocket surgery”. I always think it wisest to suppress one’s guffaws on these occasions and forward the comment to an international newspaper later.”
11th over: Australia 60-0 (Finch 23, Warner 30) Wahab remains shorter than the optimal length but he’s bowling a heavier ball than his colleagues, hitting Warner’s bat harder than the Australian expects and drawing the first false stroke in an age. As with all Pakistan’s bowlers so far the consistency is lacking a floaty half-volley turns a tidy over into a decent one for Australia. Frustrating for Sarfraz so far with only Amir offering him any control.
10th over: Australia 56-0 (Finch 22, Warner 27) Hassan’s promising opening over now looks like an early peak as another over goes for handy Australian runs. Four of them arrive in leg-byes with the line to Warner too tight while the length is again consistently too short. This has not been what Pakistan wanted after winning the toss.
Martin Coult has joined in the lamentation on access to cricket on TV. “I know the cricket authorities probably think the jam that Sky provides today is worth cordoning off the game to the general public, HOWEVER with the majority of schools no longer having facilities for the game one wonders where future generations of decent cricketers are going to be found. I grew up in the era of all tests being on the BBC – and it truly fuelled my love of the game.”
9th over: Australia 49-0 (Finch 22, Warner 24) Wahab Riaz is the fourth Pakistan quick to try to exploit what should be favourable conditions but he can’t get the ball to talk either. He does beat Finch with one that zips off the pitch angling across him but it’s too short to induce an edge.
There is furious agreement with James Walsh and Andy Bull about the ICC/ECB handling of broadcast rights. John Starbuck has emailed his thoughts while Guy Hornsby is in on the tweet.
I forcefully second James Walsh's @JPHowcroft. It's staggeringly self-harming of the ECB to leave this World Cup in a walled garden. All the cash they'll get just isn't worth it. Imagine England winning FIFA or RWC, Davis Cup, or Olympic golds on only subscription tv. Insanity.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) June 12, 2019
8th over: Australia 47-0 (Finch 21, Warner 23) Australia are flying. Hassan can’t repeat his excellent opening over, again falling prey to that shorter length and enduring Finch driving him square on the up and Warner punching him off the back foot. Ominous signs for Pakistan with both batsmen playing with intent, running hard, looking singles, and punishing anything in their hitting zones.
7th over: Australia 35-0 (Finch 16, Warner 18) Finally a loose delivery from Amir who leaks onto Warner’s pads and is clipped confidently through midwicket for four. That shot was a good example of how punishing the outfield is here at Taunton with the square stretching near enough from cover to midwicket, meaning anything hit square just races away off the multitude of strips in various stages of preparation.
Updated
6th over: Australia 28-0 (Finch 15, Warner 12) Unsurprisingly Shaheen is removed and Hassan Ali comes on in his place. This changes the line for Australia’s batsmen with Hassan a right-arm over bowler. He begins tidily, hitting the deck hard at 85mph, initially bowling a tight line to Warner then whistling one past the outside shoulder of the bat. After ten dots in a row Warner finally breaks the shackles, bunting a single into the on-side. Excellent start from Hassan.
Gil Southwood has emailed in, and we all need to send our good wishes their way. “My bicycle was stolen from central London yesterday, and only an Australian victory can bring back the kind of joy that it brought me. Please give a small cheer to the Australian side to lift my spirits on this rather overcast day. PS - if you see anyone speeding off on a black road bike with a white saddle with a thieving demeanour, tackle them for me.”
5th over: Australia 27-0 (Finch 15, Warner 11) Amir has much greater control than his new ball partner and like a left-handed James Anderson slants three across Finch on a decent length then gets one to hoop back in and almost trap him on the crease. He finishes his second maiden over by throwing a wide one for Finch to chase - which he does - and almost feathers an edge behind. There are two games operating in parallel right now - a tough one for batting against Amir and an exhibition of stroke making against Shaheen.
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4th over: Australia 27-0 (Finch 15, Warner 11) What was that about length? Shaheen drops short to Finch and he’s walloped over midwicket for six without a moment’s pause. That was instinctive and brutal, like a viper springing out of a pit. More runs follow in the form of a couple of twos before it’s Warner’s turn to feast on length, carting Shaheen through cow corner for four. There are two slips lurking in the cordon but they are passengers if Pakistan don’t land it in the right areas. Australia motoring now.
Lovely stuff from James Walsh. “Re: Andy’s excellent column, it has felt a bit of a Schrödinger’s World Cup. In England the sport is in its sky box, so we don’t know for certain it’s dead. But it probably is. Heads should roll over the lack of visibility of cricket’s showpiece event in the host country, but of course they won’t. It’s an utter shambles.”
Updated
3rd over: Australia 10-0 (Finch 4, Warner 5) Testing again from Amir, beating Finch with one that skims past the outside edge. Wasim Akram on TV explains well how this is a length pitch. Anything short is hittable, anything full doesn’t appear to swinging, but anything on a good length looks very testing with the new ball. It certainly doesn’t appear to be unplayable at this early stage.
“Morning Jonathan,” morning Brian Withington, “I think we may have had this conversation before (?), but is Liam Plunkett an example of slightly thwarted nominative determinism or just splendid cricketing onomatopoeia? In passing my only linguistic joke involves a helter-skelter and that single word as a punchline from one missing friend being sought by another ...”
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Finch 1, Warner 5) Left arm pace from both ends it is with Shaheen Afridi sharing the new ball but he’s too short to Warner, gifting him an easy four off his hip second ball. He then fails to adjust to the right-hand half of the right-left opening combination, slinging a wide down the legside. Both Aussies exchange singles in amongst all that and the defending champs are up and running.
Shaheen Afridi in England, 2019
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) June 12, 2019
10-0-80-1
10-0-83-0
10-0-82-4#AUSvPAK #CWC19 #WeHaveWeWill
Hitting the replica World Cup trophy at the long on boundary is surely the equivalent of hitting the Mercantile Mutual Cup sign. $50k to the batsman who collects it with a six. #CWC99 #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/vZatucxXw2
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) June 12, 2019
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Finch 0, Warner 0) Excellent opening over from Amir. Finch has a nibble to the first delivery on a testing length just outside off stump but avoids the edge and the ignominy of a golden duck. He lets the next one go, keeping his eye on any movement in the air or off the pitch in testing conditions. The left-handed Amir then shapes the next couple back into the right-handed batsman from over the wicket showing excellent skill and control. Finch fails to cash in on a wider one then defends soundly from the crease. Maiden to start.
David Warner and Aaron Finch are out in the middle. They are joined by umpires Nigel Llong and Ruchira Palliyaguruge. Ian Gould has his feet up watching the TV. Mohammad Amir has the new white ball in his hand. Here we go!
Updated
Anthem time, which means it’s nearly go time.
This column from Andy Bull is superb, skewering the ICC and ECB for their lamentable decisions to make accessing this world cup in England expensive and difficult, despite the levels of supposed “engagement”.
The ECB blames the ICC, because it controls the broadcast rights. Anyone who is at all familiar with how the ICC works might be surprised to find that it has so much autonomy, especially when the chairman of the ECB, Colin Graves, also happens to be chairman of the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee, which has power of approval over all the ICC’s broadcast arrangements. The ICC on the other hand, point towards Channel 4, because it arranges its own schedules. But there is a significant caveat to that. The broadcast deal stops the broadcast channel from starting its highlights show within three hours of the end of play, so it is in effect banned from showing the games before the watershed.
“Morning Jonathan!” Morning Sarah O’Regan. “Looking forward to the match today. I’d like to reassure everyone about the weather - I’ve put in a word with the appropriate authorities and they’ve agreed not to include rain in the official schedule.” Smashing, thanks so much. If you could just set a reminder to keep doing this for the next couple of months that would be swell.
The Taunton pitch has been undercover sheltering from the rain for the past few days. Unsurprisingly there’s a liveliness to it that Pakistan will be keen to exploit.
However, Taunton is famed for its run-scoring and with Somerset posting 353 and 358 in the Royal London Cup earlier this season we can expect those short boundaries to be peppered again today. Little can be gleaned from New Zealand’s shellacking of Afghanistan earlier in the tournament but the three previous ODIs at the ground include England posting 300+ in 1983, and India smacking 373 in 1999.
When these sides last met in a bilateral series Australia whitewashed Pakistan in the UAE. Pakistan were understrength, the conditions were very un-English, and the resulting stats are not especially eye-catching.
However, one does stand out. Aaron Finch was the leading run-scorer in that series, almost doubling the total of the next best batsman. His 451 included two tons, two fifties, and came at an average of 112.75. The Aussie skipper has been in modest form since arriving in the UK so the prospect of filling his boots against opponents he should feel confident facing arrives at an opportune moment.
We're all set and ready to go at Taunton, and the atmosphere is building nicely!#CWC19 pic.twitter.com/cBR0HiNc0b
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 12, 2019
Max Bonnell is a tad concerned. “Either I can’t count, or Australia needs ten overs from Maxwell with Finch the only real backup. No margin for error there.” That’s right Max, unless Smith’s leggies are hauled out of storage.
Speaking of Bootsy Collins, the zing bail resemblance is not limited to a shared commitment to the groove. Perhaps some of the bassist’s 80s outfits featured on the bail designer’s mood board?
Don’t forget to listen to the latest The Spin podcast including the panel’s take on the zing bails and their Bootsy Collins-like reluctance to deviate from a groove.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan XI: Imam ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c/wk), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Wahab Riaz, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi
One change for Pakistan who have dropped Shadab Khan for Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The Pakistan team are wearing black arms bands today to mourn the deaths of former team-mate Akhtar Sarfaraz and former Test umpire Riazuddin #CWC19 #AUSvPAK
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) June 12, 2019
Updated
Australia XI
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson.
Two changes for Australia, the enforced one sees Shaun Marsh coming in for the injured Marcus Stoinis, while Kane Richardson replaces Adam Zampa in a selection switch. Australia going into this one without a frontline spinner.
Updated
Pakistan win the toss and elect to bowl first
Big toss win for Pakistan! Green top, overcast, rain later, suddenly Pakistan have the edge.
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Just for clarification I checked the origin of Taunton and it led to be an excellent Wikipedia entry that may have been submitted by Alan Partridge.
The town name derives from “Town on the River Tone” – or Tone Town. Cambria Farm which is now the site of a Park and ride close to Junction 25 of the M5 motorway was the site of a Bronze and Iron Age settlement and Roman farm.
I do enjoy my sites of historical importance overlapping with environmentally sensitive mass transit schemes. Now, Jill, what do you think about the pedestrianisation of Norwich City centre?
However, should any taunting be heard Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed is confident it won’t be coming from any fans of his team. “I don’t think Pakistani people will be doing it like that,” Sarfaraz said. “Pakistan people love cricket and they love to support it, and they love the players.”
One of my favourite distractions is nominative determinism - that idea that people gravitate to professions because of their names (e.g. former Somerset stalwart Peter Bowler, Australian international Ashton Turner, or all the Mr Men characters). Anyway, seeing Australia are today playing at Taunton and one of the sidelines to their tournament experience has been the booing of Steve Smith and David Warner... well, you fill in the gaps.
If any sub-editors read this and use the headline TAUNT-ON in tomorrow’s papers with a picture of a fan holding up some sandpaper, I’d like a credit please.
Amod Paranjape has logged on. “Your mate, the great Geoff Lemon, seems to have the knives out for one David Warner. Not that I/We (everyone other than the Australians) am/are complaining.” I haven’t spied Geoff with his whetstone but I’m sure his logic is sound and his prose rich in persuasive imagery. He wouldn’t be alone wondering what was going on with Warner though. Still, that’s the beauty of such a long group phase for teams like Australia, it gives them time to readjust as the tournament progresses and for talents like Warner to recalibrate.
Ordinarily around this point I’d direct you to any action you may have missed yesterday, but instead I’ll signpost you towards people whingeing about rain and the lack of contingencies to deal with washouts.
Star of the show is Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes who pulls out the “we put a man on the moon” card in support of reserve days.
We really targeted this sort of game to get two points, and I know that Sri Lanka would have fought very hard and been no pushovers at all. But we do see it as one point lost and that’s disappointing. But realistically, what can we do about it? Absolutely nothing. It’s out of our control, the way the weather is.
If you know the English weather, sadly, we’re going to get a lot of rain. We never know when the rain’s going to come. At the moment, we’re seeing some problems.
I know logistically, it would have been a big headache for the tournament organisers, and I know it would have been difficult, but we have got quite a lot of time in between games, and if we have got to travel a day later, then so be it. We put men on the moon so why can’t we have a reserve day, when actually this tournament is a long tournament?
Rob Sim has joined in the Robin Smith group hug. “Used to park my deckchair square of the wicket on the boundary hoardings at Southampton just for “that” square cut, with no regard for my health and safety at all!!” You must have got RSI from hurling the ball back to the fielding sides.
How do you see this match going? Pitch looking like a green top.
— Zaffran Khan (@KhanZaffran) June 12, 2019
I hesitate to offer predictions where Pakistan are involved but I would say whoever wins the toss is going to have the upper hand. It does look a greenish pitch (more on that to come) and with these chilly overcast conditions it is a no-brainer bowl first toss to win. Add in the possibility of showers later and the ability for the side batting second to control the chase is going to be a big advantage.
The hair, the tache, the chain, the cut shot... a hero growing up https://t.co/kcB26AckPA
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) June 12, 2019
Yes! The first cricketer I ever properly emulated with the yellow bat grip. I also overly fixated on the square cut. The Judge was one of the first cricketers I ever interviewed too, and very generous he was. Smith + Smyth = must read.
It'll be interesting to see Australia's balance without Stoinis today. One option would be to bring in Behrendorff & promote NCN to seven, open the bowling with Behrendorff & Starc & use Cummins through the middle - a shame given Cummins' P1 record, but a necessary move. #CWC19
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) June 12, 2019
Behrendorff has been spotted marking out his run-up. However, on Australian TV Shane Warne just made a decent case for Kane Richardson, arguing he would prove more useful during the middle overs and avoid disrupting the established new-ball order.
Updated
Weather update: Good news! It’s dry in Taunton! Well, dry-ish, dry enough, and the forecast is cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the day. There is some rain around the West Country, especially later on, so we may have the occasional interruption for a passing shower. Even so, we should comfortably have enough time to avoid a washout, even if we don’t see 100 overs.
Covers off at Taunton County Ground and no obvious puddles like yesterday. Both teams on the ground training. Amazingly, we could get a full day of cricket here. #CWC19 #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/SRPvF3LZrB
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) June 12, 2019
As much as the lack of rain is cause for celebration it remains unpleasantly chilly. Definitely a long sleeve jumper day, possibly with a sleeveless underneath and some pocket warmers.
It is by far the coldest day here in Taunton,numb!! Looks like a proper green top.. #AUSvPAK
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) June 12, 2019
Preamble
Hello everybody and thanks for tuning in to live OBO coverage of match 17 of the 2019 Cricket World Cup between Australia and Pakistan from Taunton.
That opening line may read unambiguously like a cricket match will take place in Somerset today but with the weather that’s been hanging around the past few days that’s not something we can take for granted. We’re still an hour out from the scheduled start of play and the forecast is not too bad so after consecutive washouts we should hopefully enjoy a positive result.
For the tournament’s sake let’s hope so because this is a fixture with plenty riding on it. Both countries remain in the hunt for semi-final spots but defeat for Pakistan would significantly dent their chances of progression, while Australia will want to avoid being dragged into a qualification dogfight after suffering their first defeat of the group phase on Sunday.
That pretty lacklustre showing against India was great for the I-told-you-soer’s. Almost all of the potential weaknesses of Australia’s selection and strategy were exposed at the Oval, including - but not limited to - the depth of the attack, the reluctance to play Nathan Lyon, and the positioning of Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell in the batting order. Throw in David Warner’s uncharacteristic Chris Tavaré impression and Australia have a few issues to work through.
One further problem has been foisted upon Cricket Australia with a side strain ruling allrounder Marcus Stoinis out of at least today’s encounter. Mitchell Marsh has been flown over as cover but no announcement has been made on whether he will be called into the squad as in injury replacement.
As for Pakistan, who knows from one day to the next? An ODI series whitewash against England preceded a World Cup warm-up defeat to Afghanistan, setting the tone for dismemberment at the hands of the West Indies in their opening group game. Doom and gloom? No chance. Pakistan’s predictable unpredictability meant of course they would beat tournament favourites England to remind doubting rivals they remain a force on their day. A washout against Sri Lanka has complicated their route to the semi-finals, making today’s fixture of utmost importance.
The last time they faced Australia they lost five ODIs in a row in the UAE, which makes them favourites today, right?
While I go off and find out the teams, observe the toss, and check on the weather, why don’t you send me a tweet or drop me an email. This place is always more fun when I’m not the only person talking.
