Daijiworld Media Network

Dhaka, Mar 23: Australia romping home? Or a Pakistani backlash on the cards? We will bring you the toss and team information shortly. Greetings and welcome to what promises to a sizzling Sunday. The second game of the night pits the reigning champs, West Indies, against former champs, India.

On the other side of the spectrum, Australia's batting evokes an equal measure of fear and envy among the other sides. David Warner, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson, all can wallop the ball a long way. It will be engaging to view how they tackle spin and turn in subcontinental conditions. With James Faulkner suffering a knee injury, young James Muirhead, could play a part.

'This match is very important to us if we have to stay in the tournament', Pakistan coach Moin Khan stressed. Still smarting from their heavy defeat at the hands of arch-rivals, India, Pakistan will be banking on their spin depth to rumble back into contention.

Pitch report: 'Today's pitch is quite hard. It will have good pace and carry. When I have a closer look at this pitch, I see some roughness which means there is something in for the spinners as well. Since this one is an afternoon game, the dew factor will not come into play and teams will look to bat first. But, having said that, Pakistan may have a second thought about the Aussie seamers coming hard at them', reckons Sanjay Manjrekar

Australia have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, George Bailey(c), Brad Hodge, Brad Haddin(w), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Brad Hogg, Doug Bollinger

Pakistan (Playing XI): Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal(w), Mohammad Hafeez(c), Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Bilawal Bhatti, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar

Hafeez: 'This is an important tournament for us. We have to play attacking and aggressive cricket. We should express ourselves.The pitch will grip a little bit, it will suit spin. I think the pitch is still the same, the toss does not make much of a difference. We will have to bat well and let the spinners do the rest. We have one change with Zulfiqar Babar coming in for Junaid, keeping in view the conditions.'

Bailey: 'We certainly want the openers to give us a good start. Playing spin will be only one facet of the game. Both teams have a good pace attack. We will want to have a bowl first. No specific reason, really. This one looks a little bit harder. We need some luck as well after the league stages. We have played well in T20s.'

Warner: 'I just love playing the game. It's a challenge when you go out there. When you score 50 off 20 balls, people expect you to do it all the time. It's all about instinct and then you react to the ball. You will have to be switched on and off and then put the ball away. Conditions suit Pakistan the best but we can come strong today. Hopefully, they remember Mike Hussey's innings against them'.

Match Preview :

Australia: The one trophy missing from their rather elaborate trophy cabinet, Australia, boasting of one of the strongest sides in the tournament, go into the go into their opening T20 WC encounter against Pakistan hoping to get their campaign off to the perfect start. Even with their hero in recent times, Mitchell Johnson, missing out through injury Australia side posses a host of players who can change the course of the game in a flash.

David Warner leads the batting charges, and no one needs any reminding of the amount of damage he can do on his day. Add to this the likes of Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Shane Watson and Brad Hodge and it translates to tons of runs for the side. Their bowling too boasts of quality with Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Doug Bollinger and James Faulker lending the pace department an experienced and potent feel.

If there is one department that the Aussies will want a little more depth it would be a quality back up to the aging Brad Hogg. The left-armer can be a handful when he hits form, but Australia will have to rely on him heavily to deliver the goods on what would usually be helpful wickets. Also, the fact that Australia are placed in a group with teams that are extremely comfortable against spin will make Hogg's job all the more tougher.

Key for success: Australia opening combination is as devastating as they come. In David Warner and Aaron Finch, they have two big-hitting batsmen in the form of their lives. If the duo get off to a strong start, Australia could easily amass huge totals.

Pakistan: Ear marked as one of the teams to watch out for pre-tournament, Pakistan's odds have dipped considerably after being walloped by South Africa in the warm-up and then by India in the opening game of the tournament. Despite their lack of form, Australia would make a huge folly by writing off a team like Pakistan. They have always carried a notorious reputation for being unpredictable and if they get their act together, they can blow away an opposition as easily as they sometimes capitulate.

Pakistan's last game went nothing according to plan - The batsmen barring, to some extent, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Maqsood failed to come good as they were restricted to a sub-par 130 by India. And their bowlers could do little but delay the inevitable as India cantered to an easy 7-wicket win.

Hafeez's team will know that another loss for the side could leave them with an extremely slim chance of progressing to the next stage, but they will also know that they are capable of some of their best cricket when they have their backs against the wall.

Key for success: Pakistan's all-rounders are also their biggest match-winners. Mohd Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Bilawal Bhatti all had off days with both bat and ball, and they will hoping it was just one of those rare occasions.

Upcoming milestones:

Mohammad Hafeez has taken 44 wickets and need 6 more to achieve the 50 wickets milestone.

Umar Akmal has taken 23 field catches and needs 2 more to achieve the 25 catches milestone.

Quotes:

George Bailey: They got three spinners in top 10 at the moment in Twenty20 (rankings). They are a very, very strong spinning side and the conditions can be challenging for us here but we've certainly got a strong batting line up at the moment that hopefully overcomes them.

Mohd Hafeez: Ajmal is our strike bowler and we use him as an wicket-taking option.