6 March, 2022

Pakistan face stern test but hope to unsettle favourites Australia

Australia v Pakistan
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
Tuesday 08 March, 2 pm Local Time

After contrasting results in their respective opening-round fixtures, Australia and Pakistan face-off at the Bay Oval hunting crucial points in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 group stage.

Pre-tournament favourites Australia, fresh off an impressive 12-run victory over arch-rivals England, head into the clash looking to make it consecutive group stage victories.

In a perfect display of their supreme ability across all facets of the game, Rachael Haynes (130) and skipper Meg Lanning (86) led from the front with the willow, before Alana King (3/59) spun her team to victory.

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In contrast, opponents Pakistan will hope to bounce straight back from a humbling 107-run defeat at the hands of India on Sunday.

Looking at the positives, Pakistan will be buoyed by a unified effort with the ball that limited India to 244/8 from their 50 overs. However, their batting left plenty of room for improvement as many failed to capitalise on starts.

After 12 previous fixtures between these two sides in ODI cricket, Pakistan head into the latest instalment attempting to create history having never beaten Australia in this format.

M4 Match Highlights: Pakistan v India | CWC22

THE TEAMS

**Australia Squad:**Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nic Carey, Ash Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington. Travelling reserves: Georgia Redmayne, Heather Graham

**Pakistan Squad:**Bismah Maroof (c), Nida Dar (vc), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sundhu, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz

KEY PLAYERS

**Rachael Haynes:**Following on from an outstanding player of the match performance in Australia's opening round fixture, the opener will, once again, look to lay the perfect foundation anchoring the innings and providing the lower order with the licence to let loose.

**Javeria Khan:**Pakistan's record run-scorer in ODI cricket has 2,885 runs and two centuries to her name. A strong performance from the batter will be crucial if her nation is to shock the favourites.

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WHAT THEY SAID

Pakistan captain Nida Dar: “We just try to focus on our game and give our best. We must be clear about our plans, Pakistani spin department always go for wickets as well as try to contain.

“Against top batters we have planned to go for early wickets. We know Australia are a strong side and their players love an attacking game”

Australia's Beth Mooney: “The great thing about these tournaments is you get to play against different players from around the world and they have different journeys to get here.

"So hopefully we can have a few yarns with them along the way and make sure that we're learning as much as we can as we go and offering as much advice as we can.

“But first and foremost, we're here to play cricket as well. So we've got an important job to do tomorrow and making sure we're ready to go for that as well.”

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CWC22 DREAM11 FANTASY WATCH

Captaincy Pick – Rachael Haynes

Australia’s vice-captain scored a magnificent 130 off 131 balls with 14 boundaries and one maximum in their first match against England. She stitched together a 196-run partnership with Meg Lanning which helped them post that massive total of 310, which proved a bit too much for the English. Haynes also has a good record against Pakistan, with 200 runs in five matches, which includes a half-century.

Must have – Meg Lanning

Captain Meg Lanning scored 86 runs with seven boundaries and one maximum in that great partnership with Haynes against England. It was her second half-century in a row in WODIs and she scored 87 runs against New Zealand in the last warm-up match as well. Lanning also has a century and half-century against Pakistan in eight matches.

THE VENUE

This game is the third of seven matches scheduled to be held at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui throughout the tournament.

The 10,000-seater stadium has hosted international fixtures since 2014, nine years after it was officially opened in Blake Park.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

All eight teams at the tournament will play each other across seven rounds in a league format.

The top four teams in the standings after the conclusion of the Group Stage will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in the final week of March.