Pakistana Batting Against Australia in 1st ODI

BRISBANE: Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in the first One-day International of the five-match Commonwealth Bank Series here at Gabba stadium on Friday.

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The Australian team have a good amount of advantage since they are playing in their home ground and they have got a lot of practice. Although the Australian team is pretty high on confidence after bundling off Pakistan in the Test series, the One-day Internationals are a different ball game all together. Pakistan will surely want to make a good comeback by winning the One-day series and taking home the trophy for themselves.

Things are not going right for the Pakistan team for quite some time now; since none of the players got hired in the IPL team’s things are looking really sordid to say the least. A win in the ODI series can lift the moods of the Pakistan Cricket enthusiasts and rejuvenate or rather boost the team morale.

Pakistan have been boosted by the inclusion of Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi while Kamran Akmal has been restored at the top of the order.

Kamran was dropped from the Test team for his poor keeping during the Sydney Test but he will take the gloves and Sarfraz Ahmed will watch from the sidelines.

The pace bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who has been playing Twenty20 games for Tasmania, has been preferred to Umar Gul and joins Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer in a pace attack that should enjoy the evening conditions.

Australia are carrying a 12-man squad and left out James Hopes, the Queensland allrounder, who is only with the team for this match. Ricky Ponting would have liked to have batted on a hard pitch with green tinges, but will be forced to chase under lights in steamy conditions.

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Australia: Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Hauritz, Clint McKay, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger.

Pakistan: Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal (wk), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammed Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Saeed Ajmal.