TODAY’S match at the Adelaide Oval will no doubt be a crunch game for both Australia and Pakistan to decide which of the two will stay in the mega event.

South Africa and India have already reached the semis after beating Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, respectively, and they now move to the final thrust in quest of the Cup.

Australia, four-time former winners of the coveted trophy, will obviously leave no stone unturned to get into a similar situation if they get past Pakistan.

Pressure no doubt will influence the Aussies’ whole mindset, whether batting first or asked to chase. Playing in front of home crowd and the expectations that go with it also make the players and the home team extra cautious about the way they perform to bring the desired result.

Australians are favourites and they will have to play like one to beat Pakistan who, after having sneaked into the quarter-finals following early setbacks, are also being backed to progress into the last-four phase.

Having toured Australia a number of times with Pakistan and having played in the local conditions for the World XI and also in the Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC), I do have some experience of batting on different surfaces in Australia.

At Adelaide in 1976-77, I did score a hundred in a Test as well against a very strong Australian attack. I scored a couple of centuries on this ground against South Australia too. But those were the days when Australian grounds and pitches had a character of their own. Lift and bounce had to be coped with which we seldom experienced in any other country.

The primary reason why it always turned out to be tough for overseas batsmen who visited Australia — having played on low-bounced and docile tracks.

I notice though that things have drastically changed in recent times and Australian pitches have become batsmen-friendly with not much exaggerated bounce or turn — the reason why we notice so many centuries being scored and the bowlers being hit all over the park.

The drop-in pitches help bowlers very little and only extra effort brings in desired results. The Australians will obviously have the satisfaction of playing at home and will have loud support of their fans.

Their bowling with Michell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell also looks every impressive as does their batting with the likes of David Warner, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Maxwell and Brad Haddin.

It definitely looks better on paper compared to Pakistan but we must bear in mind that even the best can have a bad day as the Australians did against New Zealand in the pool game of this Cup. That they nearly turned the tables on Brendon McCullum’s men is another story and shows their quality and ability to fight it out.

Pakistan, they know, is an unpredictable brigade and on their day can dent any high-profile opposition. In the UAE late last year, Australia were whitewashed by Misbah-ul-Haq and company in the two-Test series — but not in the ODIs.

That no doubt will be playing on the Aussies’ minds when they take on Pakistan today.

Even the mighty can fall and if Pakistan play their cards right and have a proper game plan, then there will always be a chance for an upset. For that to happen Pakistan will need to bat well, field better and bowl to a plan as they have done so far.

Bad luck though that Mohammad Irfan is injured but Pakistan can still do the damage with Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan in the ranks. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, if he plays, may turn out to be the trump card and I think he should get a chance against Australia even if a batsman had to be sacrificed.

Last but not the least, Pakistan must get a sound start whether they bat first or last. Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad are capable of doing that, and that can be strengthened by Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah, Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Akmal.

Only one team will win in the end and let us hope it is Pakistan. If they do, there will be nothing more heart-warming than this. Success and failure depends on how well a team perform on the day. Therefore, let us hope that today it is Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2015

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