International cricket returns to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as Pakistan hosts Australia for the opening match of a 3-match ODI series today. With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on the horizon next year, both teams are eager to test fresh combinations and build momentum.
Following Mitchell Marsh‘s last-minute ankle injury, Josh Inglis takes the reins as Australia’s stand-in captain. Pakistan, led by fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, enter the series with a confidence boost after a dominant 3-0 clean sweep in the T20I series against Australia earlier this year.
PAK vs AUS, 1st ODI: Match details
- Date and Time: May 30, 5:00 pm IST / 11:30 am GMT / 4:30 pm Local
- Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
PAK vs AUS, Head-to-Head Record in ODIs
Matches played: 111 | PAK won: 36 | AUS won: 71 | No result/tie: 4
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Pitch Report
The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is famously known as a batter’s paradise. The surface is expected to be a hard, flat track offering very little initial assistance to the fast bowlers. Spinners might extract brief turn as the game progresses, but overall, boundaries will fly. Small ground dimensions combined with a quick outfield indicate that a high-scoring thriller is on the cards. The team winning the toss will highly consider chasing, given the ease of batting under lights.
Squads
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Babar Azam, Salman Agha, Abdul Samad, Ghazi Ghori(w), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi(c), Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Rohail Nazir, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Sufyan Moqim, Shamyl Hussain
Australia: Matthew Short, Josh Inglis(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Liam Scott, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Kuhnemann, Tanveer Sangha, Oliver Peake
Also READ: Wasim Akram explains how Bangladesh outclass Pakistan in historic Test series triumph
PAK vs AUS, 1st ODI, Today’s match prediction
Case 1
- Pakistan won the toss and bowl first
- Australia’s powerplay score: 50-60
- Australia’s total score: 320-350
Case 2
- Australia won the toss and bowl first
- Pakistan’s powerplay score: 40-50
- Pakistan’s total score: 290-310
Match result: Team bowling first to win the contest.
