Symonds, Watson in as Australia bat

Pakistan v Australia, 1st ODI, Dubai

Symonds, Watson in as Australia bat

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran

April 22, 2009

Toss Australia chose to bat v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

International cricket welcomed its newest ODI venue - Dubai Sports City - for the first ODI of the five-match series between Pakistan and Australia. Batting first seemed the best option on a sun-baked pitch and it was Michael Clarke who called correctly,opting for an opportunity to pile on the runs. His counterpart Younis Khan said he would have done the same and reckoned a score of 260-270 was chaseable on this surface.

Pakistan went in with three seamers and as always, the attention will center around the mercurial Shoaib Akhtar. Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum complete the trio and the spin duties will be shared between Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi.

Making a comeback for Australia will be Stuart Clark, who will be saddled with a lot more responsibility given Nathan Bracken's recent struggles and an injury to Brett Lee. Another player who will be looking to wipe the slate clean following a series of off-field troubles is Andrew Symonds. David Hussey makes way for him in the middle order and the top order has been overhauled following the ODIs in South Africa, with Shaun Marsh returning from injury.

The glitz of the IPL may steal the attention of viewers from across the globe but the importance of this series cannot be underestimated. It's a series between a team craving for cricket and another craving for a rest after a back-breaking summer.

Australia are affected by pull-outs and injuries and their bench strength will be tested, not for the first time this season. It will be upto their virtual second-string side to prove they are playing to win and not treating this series as a mere formality.

It's a home away from home for Pakistan and the team will embark on a new era in a new country, but in their hearts, their players will hope this arrangement of overseas games is only temporary.

Pakistan (from) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Rao Iftikhar Anjum, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Australia (from) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Brad Haddin (wk), 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Callum Ferguson, 7 James Hopes, 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Stuart Clark, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus