Pakistan aim to clinch historic ODI series win against Australia
Team Pakistan is on the verge of a historic ODI series win against Australia after their dominant display in Adelaide. The team's confidence is sky-high as they head into the third and final match at Optus Stadium. Despite having traditionally struggled on Australian soil, Pakistan have been in sublime form this series, thanks to Haris Rauf's fiery bowling and Saim Ayub's impressive batting. Here's the preview.
Australia's key players to miss final ODI
Australia will miss a few of their key players for the series decider on Sunday (November 10). Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Marnus Labuschagne will all be absent as they prepare for their upcoming Test series against India. Josh Inglis will lead Australia as their 30th ODI captain in this decider.
A look at the head-to-head record
The two sides have locked horns 110 times in ODI cricket and Australia have dominated proceedings. The head-to-head record reads 71-35 in Australia's favor. While one of their matches ended in a tie, three clashes got washed out. At home, the Aussies have 38 wins and 18 defeats against the Men in Green. Notably, Pakistan have won just a solitary bilateral ODI series in Australia, in 2002 by 2-1 margin.
Pressure mounts on Australia's openers
The pressure is on Australia's openers Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who have been criticized for their shot selections in the last two games. Despite the modest crowd turnouts in Melbourne and Adelaide, both teams are aware of the importance of this series as a precursor to the upcoming Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Inglis and Rauf: Players to watch in final ODI
Inglis, who will be making his captaincy debut for Australia, is someone to watch out for in the final ODI. Although he has never captained Western Australia or Perth Scorchers in the BBL (due to his wicketkeeping duties), Inglis's leadership skills are highly regarded. Meanwhile, Haris Rauf has been the standout performer of this series with eight wickets under his belt.
Team news and pitch conditions for final ODI
For the final ODI, Australia are likely to bring back Sean Abbott and Marcus Stoinis. Meanwhile, Pakistan are expected to keep their winning team from Adelaide unchanged. The pitch at Optus Stadium is anticipated to be fast and bouncy, potentially favoring bowlers like Rauf who have shown exceptional form this series.
Here are the probable XIs
Australia (probable XI): Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (c & wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly, Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson/Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Lance Morris. Pakistan (probable XI): Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain.
