LONDON: Cricket World Cup organizers are hoping to get a result in the group game between defending champion Australia and Pakistan after washouts on consecutive days at Southampton and Bristol.
Cool temperatures and light rain are on the forecast for southwest England on Wednesday but Britain's Met Office is predicting only a slight chance of rain during the morning at the match venue in Taunton.
It was overcast and gloomy at Somerset's County Ground before play on Day 14 of the tournament and the temperature was expected to be around 11 Celsius (52 Fahrenheit) at the scheduled toss.
Pakistan has already had a game washed out — against Sri Lanka in Bristol last Friday — and the second game at Bristol between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was abandoned because of rain without a ball being bowled on Tuesday. There were only 7.3 overs played in the South Africa-West Indies game before it was washed out in Southampton on Monday.
Five-time champion Australia swept Pakistan 5-0 in a one-day international series in March and has won 14 of the last 15 head-to-head encounters.
But the Australians are coming off a loss to India last Sunday in London and the absence of injured allrounder Marcus Stoinis will enforce a lineup change.
Pakistan is coming off a confidence-boosting win over top-ranked England, which ended a run of 11 ODI losses.