Confident Pakistan to take on Aussies

AMSTELVEEN: On a high after some good performances in the recent past, Pakistan will take on world champions Australia in the final league engagement of the Videocon Cup cricket tri-series on Wednesday hoping to keep their winning momentum going.

With India virtually out of contention for a final berth after their opening game defeat to Pakistan, the Saturday summit clash will see Pakistan and Australia fight for supremacy yet again in this lead-up tournament to the Champions Trophy.

Indian can sneak into the final only if Australia lose badly to Pakistan.

But for that to happen, Pakistan would have to beat Australia by a very huge margin — something nearly next to impossible considering the sheer quality of the world champions.

Even if the tie is a wash-out, India would be left in the lurch on the basis of points.

As the table stands, Pakistan are on top with six points while India and Australia have three points each from Monday's rain-abandoned match. Pakistan are assured of a place in the final and India's best chances rest on Australia losing by a huge margin.

On the net run-rate issue, Pakistan are top of the heap with plus two against their name. Indians are minus two and Australia, because of the abandoned game, have not got any run-rate in their block.

Pakistan could do India a favor but Australians now have an idea of the batting conditions at the VRA ground where the ball tends to spin abnormally. It is also too slow a wicket for the batsmen to time their shots.

Pakistan though would be very keen to do well against Australia as it would help them with their upward moving graph they have acquired since the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka last month.

Pakistan were able to put it across India in both Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and in Holland and they would look better if they are able to beat Australia as well.

They have taken recourse to some bold methods ever since Bob Woolmer agreed to be the coach of their team. Shoaib Malik is coming at number three and giving depth to their batting while Shoaib Akhtar is not hurt when he is given the ball as first change.

The lynchpins of their batting, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana, have not fired for a while now and once they do, Pakistan batting would acquire a larger aura.

Their bowling too is in good hands and fast bowlers have shown remarkable discipline of late. The fielders are fitter and keener and all in all Pakistan look a much-improved side.

Australia, on the other hand, are keen to give their bowlers some practice before the final and hopefully a full game on Wednesday would provide just that opportunity.

Brett Lee is coming after a long lay-off and the likes of Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg will be looking to find some good rhythm ahead of the Champions Trophy in England (September 10-25).

Australia (from): Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin.

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Moin Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed.

Umpires: David Shepherd (ENG) and Steve Bucknor (WI). Third umpire: Jeremy Lloyds (ENG).