ICC Champions Trophy 2009

(11th Match, Group A)

Australia vs Pakistan

Date: September 30th Time: 07:30 (GMT)

Australia captain Ricky Ponting is confident his side can control its destiny and beat Pakistan in Wednesday's crucial Champions Trophy match in Centurion.

A win at SuperSport Park would earn Australia top spot in the group and a semi-final against England.

Pakistan are already through to the final four, along with New Zealand.

An Australian loss would open the door for India to overtake them, as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side plays the West Indies, the weakest side in the group.

Ponting said it was good to know Australia did not have to rely on other results and could focus solely on beating Pakistan.

"The destiny is in our own hands, we know what we have to do, we've got to continue to play well and continue to improve," he said.

"That's been the pleasing thing for me over the past few weeks, every game we've played we've been there or thereabouts, so we're heading in the right direction."

Although Australia will again be without vice-captain Michael Clarke, who is heading home because of back soreness, Ponting was confident the batsmen were in good enough form to handle Pakistan.

He was also confident opener Shane Watson could make snap his recent lean trot, which has stretched to three straight ducks - one in the last one-dayer in England and two in South Africa.

"The one-day game can grab hold of you like that," Ponting said.

"Although he hasn't made any runs I'm confident he'll make them in the next game."

Pakistan will consider resting captain Younus Khan and fellow batsman Imran Nazir, who are both nursing finger injuries.

They could also call on paceman Mohammad Asif, in what would be his first international in over a year after a series of doping issues and an arrest for possessing drugs.

Younus said the side was keen to build on its momentum.

"When you have good form you want to carry on with that and play good cricket, because if you lose you have to start again," he said.

Australia (from): Ricky Ponting (capt), Shane Watson, Tim Paine, Mike Hussey, Cameron White, Callum Ferguson, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.

Pakistan (from): Younus Khan (capt), Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Asif, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul.

The match is scheduled to start at 9.30am (5.30pm AEST).

© 2009 AAP

Let's watch who will be the winner...

ICC Champions Trophy 2009

(12th Match, Group A)

India vs West Indies

Date: September 30th Time: 12:30 (GMT)

As the bookmakers have clearly showed with their tight odds, India should face no challenge when they meet the West Indies in the final pool match of this year’s Champions Trophy on Wednesday.

The under strength and final team of the Champions Trophy format, which includes the top eight cricket playing nations, the West Indies were always going to struggle against the top nations considering the likes of captain Chris Gayle decided to sit out the tournament due to a contract dispute.

That left a team of Calypso kids led by journeyman captain Floyd Reifer to battle the world’s best and they haven’t disgraced themselves either. If their batsmen could have put on a few more runs they might have snuck home with a victory against Pakistan while their match against Australia was a decent hit out.

India should make light work of the team however and need to if they are any chance of making the semi-finals.

The washout against Australia in their last match was the worst possible outcome after an earlier loss to Pakistan.

India must now not only flog the West Indies but also hope Pakistan beat Australia.

The sub-continent juggernauts have the batting power to do just that with Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni all of which can score a century and if another batsman can get at least half of that well they are on their way to a big total.

The West Indies pace attack of Gavin Tonge, Tino Best, and Nikita Miller will need to strike early and make India push the runs which will in turn cause more wickets to fall because as the cricketing world knows, India has a tendency to be a house of cards once the pressure is applied.

The Caribbean batsmen have nothing to lose and will want to cement a claim to be considered for selection once the contract disputes are resolved. That means Devon Smith, Travis Dowlin, Floyd Reifer and Andre Fletcher can simply launch an all-out attack against India’s quicks.

Ashish Nera, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar will want the exact opposite and will need to pitch the ball up in Johannesburg if they want to victory to give them a shot at claiming the world number one spot.

Let's watch who will be the winner...