http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 vs Australia – 1st ODI – Match Preview
With both sides coming under fire in recent times, Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 will seek consistency as they battle it out under extreme circumstances in UAE, with the first of the 3-match ODI series starting today, August 28, 2012, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The hot and humid conditions and the unusual time have made the series a testing one, with both camps forced to re-think on different strategies to keep its players fresh. Temperatures are not expected to fall below 32 degrees, while matches will kick-off
at 6pm and will conclude around 2.00am the next day.
Having said that, both sides have had adequate preparation time to equip themselves and get accustomed to the unusual conditions in order to kick-start their resurgence in the ODI arena, where they have faltered recently. The 3-match series will be followed
by 3 T20Is, which gives them the chance to return to winning ways and further gear up for the World T20 in confident mood.
Australia began the tour with a hard-fought win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Matthew-Wade-c1933 has been the centre of attention after the left-hander bore the brunt of playing a battling knock of 75, while
opening the innings, before donning the gloves for the second half.
That drained him physically, compelling the management to look for reinforcements upfront. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 could be in line to open the innings, having already performed such role for his Indian Premier League franchise, Chennai Super Kings.
Apart from that, skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377. That switch in the batting order makes sense, considering that Australia will have to face plenty of slow bowling, and
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 is by far their best player of spin.
Despite the possibility of turning tracks, the visitors have omitted their leading spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Aaron-Starc-c76392, James
Pattinson and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJ-Hussey-c1380 and Clarke himself.
After holding the top ODI spot for a considerable time period, the tourists faltered badly against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, who inflicted them with a 4-0 whitewash in June. That result has pushed them down to 4th in the ODI ranking and Clarke has already termed
it as unacceptable.
Their opponents are also in a free fall since the start of the year. Despite winning the Asia Cup, Pakistan also suffered a 4-0 slate from the hands of the Poms, before recently stuttering on tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 – losing the ODI series 3-1. Adding to that,
the Men in Green have not beaten their current opponents in a series since 2002 and are without their mainstays in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325.
Despite such poor record, the hosts will feel positive of claiming a win under familiar circumstances and will rely on their tested trio of spinners – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859 – to do the job. The former is just 3 wickets away from
reaching 350 ODI wickets.
The other change will see the inclusion of wicket-keeper batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122, after a gap of 18 months. His batting will add firepower to the lineup but his glove work could be the deciding factor.
The rest of the composition for the Men in Green is undecided, but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sohail-Tanvir-c90665 is a likely candidate to lead the bowling lineup.
The series is also important in terms of ranking – if Pakistan manages to claim a 3-0 victory, they will take hold of the 4th spot, with Australia moving down to 6.
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