BRISBANE: Pakistan have won the toss and chose to bowl first against Australia in the opening T20I of the three-match series here at The Gabba on Thursday.
Following a rain delay, the fixture has been reduced to seven overs per side, with a two-over powerplay. Two bowlers can bowl two overs, while three bowlers can bowl one over apiece.
PLAYING XIs
Australia: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Josh Inglis (c/wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c/wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haseebullah Khan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Pakistan and Australia have come face to face 25 times in T20Is with the green shirts boasting a slightly dominant record, winning 13 fixtures, compared to Australia’s 11, while one match ended in no result.
Matches 25, Pakistan 13, Australia, No Result 1
FORM GUIDE
Pakistan enter the T20I series with momentum in their favour as the visitors recently registered their first series victory in Australia across formats since 2017.
However, their recent performances in the shortest format say otherwise.
Pakistan are playing their first match since their dismal ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, which saw them crashing out from the group stage of the tournament for the first time due to their gut-wrenching defeats against the USA and arch-rivals India.
Australia, on the other hand, are fresh from a 3-0 routing of Scotland and a 1-1 stalemate against fierce rivals England.
Pakistan: W, W, L, L, L (most recent first)
Australia: NR, L, W, W, W
