Australia take on Pakistan in a ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 game at Taunton today. India ended Australia's 10-match winning ODI run with a 36-run victory at The Oval last week. Pakistan, on the other hand, were left frustrated when their match against Sri Lanka was washed out after defeating hosts England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Get live updates and live score of Australia Vs Pakistan here (LIVE SCORECARD | POINTS TABLE | FULL SCHEDULE)
15:04 hrs IST: Good start from Amir. Maiden. Australia are 0/0 after the first over. Shaheen Afridi comes into the attack.
15:02 hrs IST: Straightaway some shape for Amir. Wasim Akram says from the commentary box "that's the length, that's the line" to bowl to the Australian captain.
15:00 hrs IST: Time for live action. Aaron Finch to take strike. Mohammad Amir to begin the proceedings.
14:38 hrs IST: Playing XIs
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey(w), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson
14:33 hrs IST: Pakistan have won the toss and have opted to field
14:20 hrs IST: The pitch (looks green) has been under covers for two days. Win the toss and field first - something Finch and Sarfaraz would be looking to do.
14:15 hrs IST: We'll have the toss in 15 minutes.
14:05 hrs IST: Against England, Pakistan looked an entirely different team from the one that turned up against the West Indies. There were healthy partnerships all the way down the top six and they were backed up by the bowlers who never let the mighty England batting line-up off the hook.
13:55 hrs IST: Pakistan and Australia have met four times before in World Cup matches in England, winning two each.
13:42 hrs IST: WHAT THEY SAID -
Australia captain Aaron Finch: "I think Pakistan are obviously a very dangerous side. We've seen consistently throughout, especially ICC tournaments, that they win a lot of games and they get themselves in a position to win the tournament. And they had a great Champions Trophy. So regardless of what kind of form Pakistan go in with, they're always incredibly dangerous."
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed: "Our morale is very high, we have momentum. So hopefully we'll do very well against them tomorrow. We can't control the weather, but definitely if the match is shortened, the plan changes."
13:30 hrs IST: BIG NUMBER - Australia have won 14 of their last 15 ODI clashes against Pakistan, including their last eight in a row and most recently a 5-0 series whitewash in the UAE.
13:19 hrs IST: STAT ATTACK - Steve Smith has reached 50 in seven of his last eight World Cup matches.
13:12 hrs IST: Hello and welcome to Outlook's live coverage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup match between defending champions Australia and Pakistan.
Australia eased to a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan and defeated West Indies by 15 runs before losing to India, getting bowled out for 316 in reply to India’s 352/5.
Pakistan started their campaign with a seven-wicket drubbing at the hands of Windies after being dismissed for only 105, but beat England by 14 runs. Their next match against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain.
With showers expected today, it appears unlikely a full match will be possible at Taunton.
Pakistan have no major injury concerns. For Australia, Marcus Stoinis suffered a side strain in the match against India and has been ruled out of the clash against Pakistan. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is all set to join Australia’s squad as a backup for Stoinis.