ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 26: AUS vs BAN – Australia Predicted Playing XI

Australia will take on Bangladesh in their next encounter as they look to strengthen their hold of one of the top four positions on the points table. The team has already got four wins in five games so far and another win will help them get one step closer. The team registered a massive 87-run win against Sri Lanka a few days ago and will be a confident unit.

While they eye a hat-trick of wins, Australia can’t afford to take Bangladesh lightly. The Bangla Tigers have put up great fights in almost every encounter thus far and seem to be in good form. For Australia, their playing eleven looks pretty much sorted. Though, there could be a few changes that they will look to make for this game keeping the opposition in mind.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Australia

Openers (David Warner, Aaron Finch (c))

David Warner scored a great hundred against Pakistan and seemed to have played his natural game. But against Sri Lanka, he yet again played an uncharacteristically sluggish knock. Warner clearly is looking to take the game deep and make up for the consumed balls later on. But he can’t drift away from his natural game.

He is usually an aggressive, attacking batsman and must back his abilities. Aaron Finch, his opening partner, registered an excellent 153 in the last game after missing out on getting to the triple figures on a couple of occasions. He continues to be a great strength to this team and should get the big scores regularly.

Middle Order (Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk))

With Marcus Stoinis expected to return for this match, Australia has got to take a call between Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh. Looking at the way they’ve proceeded thus far, Khawaja might get another opportunity and could bat at three or four. Steve Smith will bat at the other position depending on where Khawaja bats.

The former Australia skipper has been doing a fine job and has already scored three half-centuries in the tournament thus far. However, he is due for a big hundred and will hope to get there in this match. Alex Carey will bat at number seven and will need to score some quick runs. He has done well behind the stumps.

All Rounders (Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis)

Glenn Maxwell proved his worth in this Australian batting order in the last game with a quickfire 46 which came off just 25 balls. Moreover, he took the responsibility of the fifth bowler and completed his quota of 10 overs. Even though he didn’t pick any wickets, Maxi bowled at a decent economy rate. He might continue batting at number five.

Head coach Justin Langer was hopeful that Marcus Stoinis will return to the eleven for this game. The all-rounder was ruled out due to a side strain after the India game. With him expected to return, the all-rounder adds a great depth to the batting order and provides the team with the sixth bowling option as well. Thus, there are no doubts about his return as soon as he is fully fit.

Bowlers (Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Nathan Lyon)

Pat Cummins has been excellent with the new ball posing several questions to the batsmen. With the Bangladesh openers not in the best of form, he will clearly be eyeing one or two early breakthroughs. Mitchell Starc will share the new ball with Cummins for Australia.

The left-arm pacer picked up a four-wicket haul against Sri Lanka and is doing a great job at the death of the innings. On the other hand, Kane Richardson has grabbed his opportunity with both the hands and is performing well through the middle overs. Since the top three batsmen in the opposition are left-handers, Australia might fancy bringing Nathan Lyon in. The Nottingham track is good for spinners and Lyon is quite economical as well.