SuperSport Park, Centurion – Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Match Betting
Australia are 8/15 with 
Ladbrokes and Totesport
Pakistan are 7/4 with Sportingbet
A Tied Match is
A win for Austalia sees them through to the semi-finals at the expense of India. It’s hard to know what to expect from the unpredictable Pakistan team, the fact that they are already in the semi-finals would suggest that they will probably take their foot of the gas.
Although on the flip side, a side playing for fun with no pressure might just go out there and produce the goods, add to that the fact that they will most likely rotate the squad and you have an intriguing position where a couple of new faces might come into the side with a point to prove. Skipper Younis Khan has indicated that Mohammad Asif, Fawad Alam and Iftikhar Anjum are all set to get a run out.
For Australia they have now lost vice-captain Michael Clarke who has lost his battle with his back injury. Like his team mate Nathan Bracken, Clarke finds himself on the way home so that the medical staff can have a better look at a persistent injury which at the moment seems to be blighting his career.
Ricky Ponting knows that victory will take them through to the semi-final and in Clarke’s absence will be looking to himself and Mike Hussey to provide the big match experience with the bat and Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson to do the business with the ball.
Probable Teams
Australia – Shane Watson, Tim Paine (WK), Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle.
Pakistan – Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (WK), Younis Khan (C), Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif.
