On Friday, October 20, 2023, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the 18th game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 would take place between Aus and Pakistan.
Before recording a victory against Sri Lanka, Aus had dropped two straight games to South Africa and India. Aus bowled out Sri Lanka for 209 in 43.3 overs with the help of Adam Zampa’s four wicket haul, Mitchell Starc‘s two wickets, and Pat Cummins’ two wickets each. Josh Inglis (58), Mitchell Marsh (52), Marnus Labuschagne (40), and Glenn Maxwell (31) all contributed significantly to Australia’s victory by five wickets in 35.2 overs. Australia is in seventh place in the points standings with one victory in three games and a negative net-run rate of 0.734, just ahead of the Netherlands.
Pakistan, on the other side, is coming off a defeat to India in their most recent game. The first wicket was shared by Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49), who both set up a half-century partnership, but the rest of the batting order failed, falling from 155/2 to 191 all out. Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali each took two and one wickets, but it was insufficient to stop India from winning by seven wickets in the end. Pakistan is ranked fourth in the points table with two victories in three games with a negative net-run rate of 0.137.
Both Australia and Pakistan need to win this game to increase their chances of making it to the semifinals. The fate of the game could rely on which team performs better under duress as the match is predicted to be close.
AUS vs PAK Head-to-Head in ODIs
| Matches Played | 10 |
| Australia won | 6 |
| Pakistan won | 4 |
| NR | 0 |
| Tie | 0 |
AUS vs PAK Head-to-Head in ODIs
| Matches Played | 107 |
| Australia won | 69 |
| Pakistan won | 34 |
| NR | 3 |
| Tie | 1 |
India
