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Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI Preview & Tips – Pakistan to secure morale-boosting 2-1 ODI series win over Australia

By Site Editor

4 hours ago

Site Editor 4 hours ago

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The series is level at 1-1 with one game to be played
Pakistan have won three of their last four ODI’s against the Aussies (L1)
Preview, stats & head to head

Pakistan's Babar Azam (Getty Images)

Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI Preview & Tips
Head To Head
Pakistan Form
Australia Form

Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI Preview & Tips

Pakistan were nowhere near good enough in the second ODI as those predictable batting deficiencies reared their head once again.

Australia were outstanding with bat and ball in the second ODI as they battled to a competitive score with the bat before dismantling Pakistan’s batting unit.

Australia have lost three of their last four ODI’s against Pakistan
Babar Azam averages 53.54 in the ODI game

Head To Head

In their last 10 ODI meetings, both sides have secured five wins each, although Pakistan have won three of the last four.

Pakistan Form

If Pakistan are serious about reinventing themselves as one of the top sides in the world then they have to find a way to consistently perform with both bat and ball.

The first ODI saw them impress as they restricted the Aussies to a score of 200 before cruising to their total with five wickets to spare. Arafat Minhas took five wickets in the first ODI while Babar Azam scored 69 as the home team made a big statement.

However, with a series win within sight, they crumbled with the bat. After restricting Australia to a competitive albeit chaseable 231/9, they fell apart when taking to the middle. Four of their top six batters returned single-figure scores, while Shadab Khan and Arafat Minhas outscored the batting specialists.

Leaning on one good performance across a series is not enough, especially against a team like Australia. The pair have been well matched across the series, although this has been due to batting failures from both sides.

As is so often the case, I predict that Pakistan will turn to Babar Azam once again. Azam scored 69 in the first ODI and Pakistan cruised to victory. In the second ODI, he was dismissed for 16 and they lost. The connection between Azam scoring well and Pakistan’s performances is clear, and I predict he will lead his side to victory in the final ODI.

Australia Form

Australia’s performance in the first ODI was one they managed to immediately bounce back from, although this came more from a bowling unit that consistently took wickets rather than from a particularly solid batting line-up.

With the bat, Cameron Green (53), Josh Inglis (51), Matt Renshaw (43) and Oliver Peake (31) scored the bulk of the runs as strike rates of 100.00 or less ruled the day. While scoring was slow, Australia realised that setting a competitive score on the pitch was more important than trying to hit the ball out of the stadium.

When in the field, Australia were outstanding. Sending Sahibzada Farhan (3) and Maaz Sadaqat (0) back to the pavilion for single-digit scores was important, but removing Babar Azam for a run-a-ball 16 was the key wicket. This saw Pakistan panic as their best run scorer departed, meaning wickets fell regularly.

While Australia had to wait to make the breakthrough, they did eventually mop up the Pakistan tail as they secured a solid win.

The third ODI will likely see more questionable batting and intelligent bowling. The bowlers have been on top across the series, with no side able to score more than 231 runs. In this battle between the bowlers, I predict that Pakistan will come out on top as they hand Australia a 2-1 series loss.

Verdict

Pakistan v Australia 3rd ODI

I am backing Pakistan to win the third and final ODI against Australia as Babar Azam finds a way to score runs once again.

Pakistan

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