Pakistan will face Australia in a deciding match of the ongoing series at Perth Stadium on 10th November.
Match Preview:
After vanquishing Australia in the second ODI, Pakistan will enter the decider with much confidence and favourites. Haris Rauf wreaked havoc in the second ODI, picking up his second five-wicket haul in the ODIs. He is enjoying an outstanding series so far as he has picked up 8 wickets thus far.
Pakistan will need Rauf in the Perth stadium if they want to win the ODI series. The right-arm pacer should continue to bowl perfect line and length to rattle the stumps of Australia batters.
From the batting unit, all eyes will be on Saim Ayub as he is expected to continue his rich form. Besides him, the batters to watch out for will be Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Abdullah Shafique.
Azam would be keen to make his comeback and help his side to win a rare ODI series win over Australia.
Talking about Australia, they will be without the services of Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne as they will be resting and later warming up for the all-important Test series against India.
Josh Inglis will lead the side in the absence of Cummins and will become the 30th ODI captain for the side. Although Inglis does not have much captaincy experience, he captained Prime Minister’s XI in a first-class match against West Indies two years ago.
The wicket-keeper batter will be underpressured as he failed to convert good starts in the first two ODI of the series. But given he will be playing on the familiar ground, it may help him to tonk in-form Pakistan pacers.
Besides him, the pressure will be on openers Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who are yet to make their mark in international cricket.
Probable Playing XI:
Australia (probable): 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Josh Inglis (capt, wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Aaron Hardie, 7 Cooper Connolly, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Spencer Johnson/Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Lance Morris
Pakistan (probable): 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain
Pitch and weather report:
A fast and bouncy pitch is expected at Perth and it will assist pacers. Batters may have a good time as well if they target short boundaries. The average score on this pitch is 276.
Talking about the weather, it is expected to be warm as Perth is experiencing spring conditions these days.
Head-to-head record:
Pakistan and Australia have played each other in 110 ODI matches, with Australia winning 71 of these games and Pakistan standing victorious in 35 games.
Predictions:
Given the recent performance, Pakistan is supposed to win the match and series. But Australia, knowing that they will never give up, may come back strongly to break Pakistan’s hope and dream.
Where to watch:
Australia: Kayo Sports
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: Star Sports 1
