Australia made a winning start to their tour of UAE against Afghanistan and now look to take on Pakistan in the first of three ODIs. Join us at 11.55pm Australia time for live score updates.
The two teams last played in the 2011 edition of the World Cup and Pakistan came out on top in that match. Both Australia and Pakistan then went out in the knockouts at the hands of India.
Since then, Australia’s ODI set-up has seen some changes; the removal of of Ricky Ponting from the setup and the drastic fall in the ICC rankings.
Once a number one side, Australia is now fourth in the table, only a couple of places above Pakistan. The selectors have toyed with a couple of players as Ponting’s replacement but the run-scoring has gone missing.
The resting of Shane Watson puts the onus of choosing Dave Warner’s partner on the coaching staff. Matthew Wade is the closest they have to an opener but the conditions in UAE make it a difficult choice.
With forecasted temperature of more than 35 degree celcius at the venue, stand-in coach Steve Rixon seemed uneasy having Wade to open the innings.
He said: “He has a dual role to play. If he has to field first, and then go out and do the batting, he’s going to look a lot more tired doing it that way than the way he did it last night. He’s a guy we will have to manage well and his position in the batting may have a bearing on that.”
This could translate into Australia opting to go with Michael Hussey as make-shift option. Hussey has already put his hand up and agreed to the request, should it come in: “I’m open to it, it doesn’t bother me.”
The rest of the order should not see too many changes from the Afghanistan game. Captain Clarke should bat at three, from where he got a 75 against Afghanistan.
Glen Maxwell got his first chance and while he was dismissed early, he got in a decent spell of five overs. And if the number of opportunities that Forrest received is anything to go by, Maxwell should be around for at least the first couple of games.
The pace bowlers had a decent outing, with Mitchell Starc continuing to exhibit the kind of form that helped him top the bowling charts in the English Friends Life T20 this season.
Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson chipped in with some wickets too but their truer test will be against a Pakistani side, expected to do well on this batting-friendly track.
Pakistan assemble for this short series after having almost a dozen of their players feature in the Sri Lanka Premier League earlier this month.
Misbah ul Haq continues to lead the side and in the absence of Younis Khan, will look to shepherd the batting in the middle-order. Mohammad Hafeez will be his deputy and could well open both, the side’s batting and bowling.
Shahid Afridi will be a crucial cog in the middle-order but it will be his bowling that could hold the key. The one batsman who has filled Younis Khan’s void well is Azhar Ali; his strike-rate could be bit of a concern but he will shoulder the responsibility of binding the batting together.
Umar Gul is absent, so the bowling rests on the shoulders of Sohail Tanvir, back from an excellent show at the SLPL. Junaid Khan will share the new ball with Pakistan expected to toy with the idea of going into the game with an extra spinner.
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