The Australian national cricket team would be tested against Pakistan who are quite unpredictable. The batting duo of Steve Smith & Marnus Labuschagne will have to do the bulk of scoring against a quality Pakistan bowling lineup. Steve Smith will have to guide the batters in the middle-overs phase.
Pakistan on the other hand would be banking on the pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and the experienced campaigner Hasan Ali. The trio will have to be smart against the destructive opening pair of David Warner & Mitchell Marsh in this summit clash.
Steve Smith, you need that computer mind- Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden was having an interaction with ESPNcricinfo. Matthew Hayden pointed out that it’s really important to have a mind like Steve Smith at the top of the order. Matthew Hayden suggested that Cameron Green can be the unexpected middle order batter but said that his stats against spinners aren’t that great.
“I don’t think it does. I don’t think they’ll change things either. To me, they have got a front anchor out and a back anchor out and the innings goes nowhere because they are both well and truly stable,” said Matthew Hayden.
“It’s fine to have one stabilizer, I think it’s really important to have a mind like Steve Smith at the top of the order when you start to set totals or chase totals, you need that computer mind, but when you have two of them in a row I think it creates pressure through the top six so I’d make a change there,” he stated.
“Give him a license, Cameron Green at the top. To me he’s a kid who hasn’t necessarily found his tempo in any format of the game but what we saw here during the IPL is that Mumbai Indians just sent him out and said, kid, just smash it. He’s got huge levers, got great scoring abilities. Not so good when it comes to playing spin through the middle but by that stage if he’s smashed Pakistan for 70 or 80 he’s done his job,” he added.