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Australia
Marcus Stoinis injured and leaves Australia with a big selection call and exposes the fact that they landed here without a potential replacement for their Nos 5 and 6. The only reserve batsman in the squad, Shaun Marsh, doesn't bowl and is there to come in place of any of the top 4 batsmen. And the only option the Aussies have is to bring in one of their two fast bowlers, Jason Behrendorff or Kane Richardson and have Alex Carey batting at No.6. Even if conditions might support Behrendorff's inclusion, the threat of an ominously long tail could well give Richardson the nod.
Probable XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
Marcus Stoinis injured and leaves Australia with a big selection call and exposes the fact that they landed here without a potential replacement for their Nos 5 and 6. The only reserve batsman in the squad, Shaun Marsh, doesn't bowl and is there to come in place of any of the top 4 batsmen. And the only option the Aussies have is to bring in one of their two fast bowlers, Jason Behrendorff or Kane Richardson and have Alex Carey batting at No.6. Even if conditions might support Behrendorff's inclusion, the threat of an ominously long tail could well give Richardson the nod.
Probable XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
Pakistan
Mushtaq Ahmed might be the best-known Pakistani to have played for Somerset in the past, but while Azhar Ali recently played a huge role in the county's first taste of silverware - the Royal London Cup - in a while, ace batsman Babar Azam is expected to show up later in the summer for the T20 tournament. And this will be a great chance for him to give his soon-to-be homeground fans a taste of what he has to offer, while the rest of the team selects itself and if anything, Pakistan look the more settled team.
Probable XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Hassan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
Mushtaq Ahmed might be the best-known Pakistani to have played for Somerset in the past, but while Azhar Ali recently played a huge role in the county's first taste of silverware - the Royal London Cup - in a while, ace batsman Babar Azam is expected to show up later in the summer for the T20 tournament. And this will be a great chance for him to give his soon-to-be homeground fans a taste of what he has to offer, while the rest of the team selects itself and if anything, Pakistan look the more settled team.
Probable XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk/c), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Hassan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
What to expect: Langer was found strolling around his former home-ground even hours after the team had left, and was even overheard telling a ground-staff member that he was itching to pad up and get a hit in the middle, even if the ground remained draped under the covers. It's at this ground that Langer reinvented himself as a batsman after having hung up his boots in international cricket, and it's a ground that has historically done so for many a batsman from here and beyond. Cricket fans in India will of course remember Taunton fondly for the Sourav Ganguly blitz against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup, not to forget the tiny boundaries that he kept clearing and nearly depositing balls into River Tone. But the pitch here has undergone an overhaul in recent years and the bowlers - locally led by the Overton twins - have begun to have a say.
The prevailing overcast conditions will only accentuate the potential impact of the fast bowlers from both sides - and there is immense talent in that department across both setups - and it wasn't surprising to hear Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed insist that his team will bowl first if they win the toss with a beaming smile.
Despite the inclement weather over the last two days around England, which has resulted in two consecutive no-shows for cricket, the flood alert around the country hasn't been extended to Taunton even if there has been a "yellow weather" warning around Somerset which predicts heavy and persistent rain. For now though, there are more fears of the world-famous Glastonbury Music Festival ending up as a washout at the end of the month rather than the rain having a significant effect on the Australia v Pakistan World Cup encounter. But the locals here don't take too kindly to any banter regarding their chilly summer days with temperatures on Tuesday ranging from 7 to 8 degrees. "I wish you came during our winter then. You know it snows a lot around here," you're told rather bluntly.
The prevailing overcast conditions will only accentuate the potential impact of the fast bowlers from both sides - and there is immense talent in that department across both setups - and it wasn't surprising to hear Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed insist that his team will bowl first if they win the toss with a beaming smile.
Despite the inclement weather over the last two days around England, which has resulted in two consecutive no-shows for cricket, the flood alert around the country hasn't been extended to Taunton even if there has been a "yellow weather" warning around Somerset which predicts heavy and persistent rain. For now though, there are more fears of the world-famous Glastonbury Music Festival ending up as a washout at the end of the month rather than the rain having a significant effect on the Australia v Pakistan World Cup encounter. But the locals here don't take too kindly to any banter regarding their chilly summer days with temperatures on Tuesday ranging from 7 to 8 degrees. "I wish you came during our winter then. You know it snows a lot around here," you're told rather bluntly.
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