Pakistan vs Australia, PAK vs AUS, Today Match Prediction 02 April 2022

pak vs aus Match Prediction & Analysis

The last ODI and series decider between Pakistan and Australia will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 2nd April 2022. Both teams are neck to neck in the series and will play the series decider on Saturday.

Batters from both sides have shone in the 2nd ODI and spectators had got the opportunity to see 3 tons in the match. Ben McDermott from Australia’s side whereas Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam from Pakistan’s squad, delivered a brilliant batting display in the last ODI.

After struggling with the bat in the 1st ODI, Pakistan made a superb comeback in the 2nd game to chase 349 runs. Now they will try to maintain this momentum in the 3rd and last ODI match of the tour which will be played at Lahore against the Aussies.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Pakistan Preview

Pakistan’s batters outplayed the Australian bowling unit in the 2nd match of the ODI series and helped their team to level the series. Now they will play a series decider at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 2nd April against visitors.

Skipper Babar Azam asked the Australian side to bat first but Pakistan’s bowling unit failed to make the skipper’s decision right. They failed to restrict Australian batters and conceded 348 runs in the 50 overs. Only Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled a brilliant spell of 4 wickets for 63 runs in his 10 overs.

Although it was not a day for Pakistan’s bowlers, batters came to the rescue and batted brilliantly throughout the inning. Openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq had set up 118 run stand for the 1st wicket before Fakhar Zaman had departed by scoring 67 runs from 64 balls. Hundreds from Imam-ul-Haq and skipper; Babar Azam, helped Pakistan to chase down 349 uns easily.

Imam-ul-Haq (106 runs from 97 balls) scored his 2nd ton of the series along with Babar Azam  (114 runs from 83 balls ) to set up a perfect chase. Pakistan won the 2nd match easily by 6 wickets. They are now looking to continue the good form of the batters in the last match as well when they face Australia in the series decider.

Key Players: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Zahid Mahmood.

Pakistan Predicted Playing XI:

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Khushdil Shah, Iftikar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Zahid Mahmood.

Pakistan Actual Playing XI:

Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Zahid Mahmood, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Imam-ul-Haq

Australia Preview

Australia have lost the 2nd ODI of the bilateral series by 6 wickets after a poor bowling display while defending the target. They will now try to clinch the last match of the series which will help them to win the series as well. 

Australian batters showed a brilliant batting display after asking to bat first in the last ODI. Though captain Aaron Finch departed on a golden duck, Travis Head (89 runs from 70 balls) and Ben McDermott (104 runs from 108 balls) had batted superbly to settle down the inning in the middle overs.  Ben McDermott scored his maiden ODI ton and helped his team to put up 348 runs on the board.

After a good display of batting, it was the duty of Australian bowlers to restrict opponents as they had huge runs to save. But Australia’s bowling unit couldn’t manage to take wickets at a regular interval of time during Pakistan’s chase. Only Adam Zampa had picked up 2 wickets for 71 runs in his spell of 10 overs.

Australia have won the 1st match of the series because of their bowling unit but failed to continue that streak in the 2nd match. They will now try to work on their bowling issues ahead of the 3rd ODI which will be played at Gaddafi Stadium on 2nd April 2022.

Key Players: Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Adam Zampa, Nathon Ellis.

Australia Predicted Playing XI:

Aaron Finch (c), Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Adam Zampa, Sean Abbott, Nathon Ellis, Mitchell Swepson.

Australia Actual Playing XI:

Aaron Finch, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Adam Zampa, Travis Head, Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The weather will be sunny on a matchday with temperatures ranging between 38°C and 22°C. This pitch has always favored bowlers and the trend has continued in the 1st match as well. But 2nd match has completely dominated by the batters. Though it is a tough wicket to bat on, batters batted well in the 2nd match. 

Venue Details

The venue for this match will be Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The stadium has modern floodlights and can accommodate nearly 65,000 spectators.

Toss: To Bat

Toss will be a crucial factor in the match results. From the last 5 matches played on this ground the team who have opted to bat first won 4 times. The team batting first at this venue will get the advantage of the pitch and can put the opponent team under pressure for the second innings. But things got reversed in the last match and batters had dominated the game in the 2nd inning as well.