Pakistan win toss, elect to bat first against Australia in third T20I

HOBART: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first in the third T20I against Australia at the Bellerive Oval here on Monday.

Notably, Pakistan made two changes in their Playing XI, resting captain Mohammad Rizwan and pace bowler Naseem Shah. Vice-captain Salman Ali Agha will stand in as captain in Rizwan’s absence.

Young wicket-keeper Haseebullah Khan has replaced Rizwan, meanwhile, Jahandad Khan came into the side for Naseem.

The rest of the side is unchanged with Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Khan making the top-order. Haseebullah, Salman and Irfan Khan, who played a blistering knock in the second T20I, will form the middle order.

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Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will lead the pace attack with support from Abbas Afridi and Jahandad, whereas Sufyan Muqeem is the only specialist spinner in the line-up.

Meanwhile, Australia has opted to field an unchanged team. For the unversed, the hosts are leading the three-match T20I series 2-0. They defeated Pakistan in the shortened first match by 29 runs after setting a target of 94 in seven overs.

In the second T20I, Pakistan bowlers, led by Haris Rauf’s four-wicket haul, restricted Australia to 147 for 9. However, the visitors were dismissed for a mere 134 runs, losing by a narrow margin of 13 runs.

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, Haseebullah Khan (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Agha (c), Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan

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