New Delhi: On Friday, October 20, when the five times champions Australia will take the field against the 1992 champions Pakistan at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, they will have only one thing in mind, i.e. putting their name in the top 4 spots contention in a strong fashion.
On the other hand, the Pakistani team will try to put aside their last match performance and the off-the-field controversy surrounding them and get back to the winning ways.
Journey so far
The journey of Pakistan and Australia are polar opposites so far in the ICC World Cup 2023. On one hand, Pakistan won their first two matches but suffered a defeat in the third.
On the other hand, Australia lost their first two games and clinched victory in the third.
Pakistan is currently at the number 4 spot in the points table, with 4 points from 3 matches. They won their first two games against Netherlands and Sri Lanka by 81 runs and 6 wickets, respectively. However, they had to suffer a humiliating defeat against their arch-rivals India by 7 wickets in the third match.
Meanwhile, Australia is at number 6 spot in the points table currently, with only 2 points from 3 matches. Australia suffered huge losses by 6 wickets and 134 runs against India and South Africa, respectively, to start their worst World Cup campaign since 1992, however, they finally managed to find the winning ways when they defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in their third match.
Australia will now try to snatch the number 4 spot from the Pakistani team after securing their second win and handing Pakistan their second loss. Meanwhile, if Pakistan manages to get one over the mighty Aussies, they will also get a promotion in the points table as they will replace the South African team at the number 3 spot.
If we look at the head-to-head records between Australia and Pakistan in ODI cricket, they have squared off against each other in 107 ODI matches, in which Australia emerged victorious in 69 matches, while Pakistan managed to secure a win in 34 matches, 1 match between the two ended in a tie, while 3 matches ended in no-contest.
In the ODI World Cup, both the teams have locked horns against each other 10 times, out of which the Aussies once again have a better record with 6 wins, while Pakistan managed to win only 4 matches, with the most iconic one being 1999 World Cup final where Australia thumped Pakistan by 8 wickets to win their second world title.
Last time, when these two sides squared off against each other in an ODI match, it was the team from Asia, ‘Pakistan,’ who emerged victorious by 9 wickets at Lahore in 2022.
