Pakistan vs Australia Semi-Final 2 Predictions, Odds, Picks

• The most successful team of the 50-over World Cup, Australia have never lifted this trophy, while Pakistan are the 2009 champions.
• Known for their outstanding pace attack, Australia have restricted their opponents to under 160 runs in every Super 12 game.
• Breaking the Babar Azam-Mohammad Rizwan opening partnership early will be key for Australia. The duo has scored 478 runs for Pakistan, while the others combined have scored only 305 runs.

Pakistan vs Australia Odds

Pakistan have an upper hand over the might Aussies, when it comes to the T20 format. They have beaten Australia nine times, while the Kangaroos have got the better of the green shirts on thirteen occasions. With the conditions suiting them better, coupled with the exemplary form they have shown so far in this competition, Pakistan is the favorite for this match.

Pakistan to win (-125)

Predicted XI

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan Have Not Looked This Deadly for Long, While Australia Always Rise up to the Big Occasions

Given the aura of unpredictability surrounding the team, many expected Pakistan to grab the headlines in T20 World Cup 2021, be it for good or bad reasons.  However, the dominance they have shown so far in the competition was not along the expected line. Babar Azam’s men are the only team to have won all of their five matches in the Super 12 phase. Keeping the New Zealand match aside, where they did look a bit shaky at times, the green shirts totally outplayed the other four teams they have faced so far – Scotland, Namibia, Afghanistan, and arch-rivals India.

They will now take on Australia, who could consider themselves lucky to have advanced to the semis on the basis of net run rate. Aaron Finch’s boys won their first two matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka, but England handed them a humbling defeat in their third match. Thankfully for them, two convincing wins in their last two matches against Bangladesh and West Indies were enough to secure their semi-final spot.

Team News

Almost every member of the playing XI has stepped up and delivered in this tournament for Pakistan, which is a major reason behind their dominance in the Super 12 stage. A closer inspection will show that Fakhar Zaman is the only Pakistani player who has had a poor campaign so far, and while the Men in Green have an alternate option available in the talented Haider Ali, they simply would not want to take the gamble in such a crucial game.

Australia have carried out more experiments with their team combination than their opposition, but it seems that they have finally found their perfect playing XI. Marcus Stoinis might not have done much, but with Glenn Maxwell playing the role of the sixth bowler, the Aussies would prefer having a better batting depth with Stoinis, than going with an extra spinner in Ashton Agar.

Key Players

Babar Azam: Debates on whether he should be included in the elite list of world-class batters alongside the likes of Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson can go on for eternity, but unfazed by the comparisons, Babar Azam is busy trying to lead his team to a major international glory. He is Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in the competition, having scored 264 runs. Barring the match against New Zealand, the lad from Lahore has scored a half-century in every match he has played in this competition.

David Warner: While Azam has proven his calibre in this competition, David Warner is proving why his chapter in international cricket is far from being over. He has been Australia’s most reliable batter, having scored 187 runs in five matches. The 35-year-old opener played his best knock of the competition in the last match against West Indies, where he remained unbeaten on 89.

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