Austria vs Croatia, ICCT20_WCESRQA, Today Match Prediction

AUST vs CRO Match Prediction & Analysis

The Austria and Croatia national cricket team will lock horns in the Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Qualifier 5th place playoff game on Saturday, 23rd May. The venue for this match is Happy Valley Ground 2 and the scheduled start time is 18:00 IST. 

Austria are coming off a decent campaign in the competition, while Croatia head into the contest with a clinical victory over Cyprus. Both teams would eye a strong finish.  

TEAMS PREVIEW

Austria Preview

Austria enter the matchup with a three-wicket loss to Sweden. With this loss, Sweden replaced them as the second best side in the group. Initially, they lost to Guernsey by 46 runs. Meanwhile, Austria made a winning start to the competition by beating Malta and Slovenia convincingly. In both games, they chased down the total. 

Armaan Randhawa could also be a player to watch out for. We back him to score over 25 runs in the upcoming game. Karanbir Singh is also an impactful player. The batting isn’t their weak point but they need collective performance. Austria would eye a victory in the game. It will be their first game against Croatia in ICC events. 

Austria Predicted Playing XI:

Amar Naeem, Baseer Khan, Irfan Safi, Zeshan Arif, Waqar Zalmai, Kumud Jha, Karanbir Singh, B Zalmai, Randhawa, Iqbal, I Asif

Croatia Preview

Croatia head into the contest with a seven-run victory over Cyprus which helped them to get eligible to take part in the 5th place playoffs. They defended 147 against the hosts smartly. It was their second victory in the league. They suffered a 82-run loss in the first game against France while chasing 209 runs. They were bowled out on 126. In the next game, they defeated Switzerland by 16 runs. 

Connor Caroll could be a player to watch out for. We back him to score above 30 in the next game. Croatia will take on Austria next in the big assignment. Both teams are facing each other for the first time in ICC matches. Croatia are lacking the most in their bowling department. They have quality batters who can turnaround the game but collective fire is missing. 

Croatia Predicted Playing XI:

S Houghton, Rashid Hashmi, Connor Carroll, A Razmilic, Jared Newton, Nikola Davidovic, Damien Hall, Matija Separovic, A Curavic, O Tilley, Sajid Khan

Weather Conditions

On Saturday, May 23, 2026, Episkopi, Cyprus will be clear with a high of 23°C and a low of 17°C, along with a 20% chance of rain and north winds at 19 kph.

AUST vs CRO Pitch Report

The Valley Ground is a good surface to bat on. It gives authority to the batters in both innings. Pacers take advantage with the new ball in powerplay. Spin might come into the assistance. This is the surface where an average total goes to 150-160. Above 160 would be a challenging total considering the extra help to spin. The pitch will slightly get slower. 

Score prediction 

If Austria bat first - 160-170 runs 

If Croatia bat first - 155-160 runs 

Toss: To Bowl

Chasing has been an easy job on Valley Ground. The surface is getting better with each game. It’s a track where the new ball can make some movements but if you survive the phase, you can get the big score. It’s a decent surface of batting and captain should bowl first to take maximum advantage. 

Toss Prediction: Croatia to win the coin toss.