• Australia post 367/9 in 50 over
• Australia reaches 312/3 in 41 overs, but they've lost Steve Smith early, caught by the bowler for just seven runs. This wicket adds to a recent flurry of dismissals. Marcus Stoinis gets off the mark with a single, and Warner concludes the over with a boundary past mid-off
  
• Shaheen in for rescue, and he strikes twice! Marsh's fiery innings ends with a remarkable 121 off 108 as he got caught off Shaheen Afridi's delivery. Maxwell, promoted to number three, departs for a golden duck, attempting a wild slog, only to be caught at mid-on. Australia's batting juggernaut faces a setback
  
• Century! Mitchell Marsh hits his 2nd ODI century in 99 balls. Australia 214/0 after 31 over
  
• Century! David Warner hits his 21st ODI century in 85 balls. Australia reach the 200-run mark as well
• Pakistan 171/0 after 24 overs
• 150 comes up for Australia! What a batting by the opening dui as the feat is achieved in 21 overs. It also marks the 150-partnership for the duo that happened only second time in this World Cup. Pakistan
• Australia's openers are setting the pitch on fire, reaching a score of 143/0 in 17 overs. Marsh (62 off 48) and Warner (71 off 54) are the driving force, and Pakistan is struggling to break through
  
• Australia's openers are on fire, consistently hitting boundaries and maintaining a dominant display. Pakistan's renowned bowling lineup seems to be struggling, as Australia surges to 96/0 after 12 overs, leaving Pakistan in pursuit of answers
  
• Australia's openers lay a solid foundation with a cautious approach in the first 7 overs, reaching 37/0. Pakistan's experience in South Asian conditions is put to the test as they aim to break through, but the small boundaries at Chinnaswami Stadium favor Australia's scoring momentum
  
• Australia are playing an unchanged side while Pakistan brought Usama Mir in place of vice-captain Shadab Khan, reports PTI
  
• Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
  
• Australia XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
  
• Pakistan captain Babar Azam wins toss, decides to bowl first against Australia
• In Overall 107 games played between the two teams, Australia dominate the contest with 69 wins over Pakistan, who have won on 34 occasions

Australia's cricketing DNA is constructed by meticulousness and Pakistan’s by explosiveness.

When they meet each other here on Friday, Australia and Pakistan will have to regain those qualities in batting and bowling to infuse a fresh life into their World Cup campaign, which is yet to go into overdrive.

Pakistan’s strength lies in their ability to play fearless cricket in the face of pressure. Make a quick rewind to their glory year of 1992 for a validation of that remark.

But in this World Cup, they caved in at the first hint of real pressure, a match against India. There simply was no fight in their seven-wicket battering by the Men in Blue.

That mammoth chase of 345 at Hyderabad in their second match came on a featherbed against a vastly short of quality Sri Lanka, and taking it as a pointer will be sheer naivety.

Now, the Aussies offer another genuine pressure point to the Green Brigade. A side immersed in its own turmoil, the five-time champions are no India but they are a rival not to be scoffed at.

Pakistan will know that very well because Australia hold a 69-34 advantage in ODIs and a 6-4 edge in the 50-over World Cups.

Pakistan perforce will have to shed their timidity and it should start from the top. Opener Imam-ul-Haq has made just 63 runs from three matches, and the left-hander needs to give more solid support to Abdullah Shafique, who has replaced misfiring Fakhar Zaman.

They have another problem in the fluctuating form of skipper Babar Azam. Babar, Pakistan’s batting mainstay, made a fifty against India, but it was preceded by two ordinary outings against Netherlands and Sri Lanka.

Both these batters will have to contribute heavily against the Aussies, who have a pace attack that can potentially damage any batting line-up.

They also have to find a solution for the over-reliance of the middle-order on Mohammad Rizwan. The likes of Saud Shakeel, who made a fifty against Netherlands, and the hard-hitting Iftikhar Ahmed need to find the road that leads them to consistency.

In the absence of injured pacer Naseem Shah, Pakistan has leaned heavily on the 23-year-old shoulders of Shaheen Shah Afridi but the left-arm pacer is nowhere near his best in the tournament.

Afridi will have to rediscover his pace and swing, the combination that makes him so lethal in white ball formats.

Shadab Khan, their vice-captain and leg-spinner, has neither been able to chip in with ball nor with the bat in this edition of the World Cup. It will not be a big surprise if leggie Usama Mir comes in place for him on the morrow.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Aussies are in an even bigger hole. The defeats against India and South Africa have put them in an unenvious position where even one more loss can further peg back their semifinal ambitions.

Their victory over Sri Lanka is just a baby step as they have to build on it to reach the knockout stage.

The batters are the main culprits for pushing the Aussies into that squishy place. Apart from Josh Inglis no other Australian batsman has made a fifty in this event, and Marnus Labuschagne is the only batter to have scored more than 100 runs in total.

Imagine, Mitchell Starc (55) has more runs against his name than Glenn Maxwell (49) and almost as many as Steve Smith (65), David Warner (65) and Mitchell Marsh (59) from three matches.

If anything, it shows a total downtime of their batting unit, and they need to better it against Pakistan.

But that does not absolve the Australian bowlers from their faults. While Starc, Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood have tried to keep things tight, skipper Pat Cummins remains a loose end in their bowling.

Cummins’ mojo in red ball cricket has not really percolated to his white ball outings, at least consistently, and the 30-year-old will have to find his champion self here.

But the only hindrance for that is the smooth deck and shorter boundaries at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, often a friend of the batters.

Teams: Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.

Match starts at 2 PM.