Key events
WICKET! Fraser-McGurk c Rizwan b Naseem 7 (Australia 20-1)
Naseem gets the breakthrough as Fraser-McGurk plays too far away from his body and gets a thick edge. There was hardy any foot movement from the young Australian and he falls cheaply for the third time in the series.
3rd over: Australia 20-0 (Short 7, Fraser-McGurk 7) Left-armer Shaheen is bowling around the wicket and has the ball shaping away nicely from Short. The opener pushes a straighter, fuller delivery to mid-off for a couple. A neat over but Australia’s opening pair survive past the third over for the first time in the series.
2nd over: Australia 18-0 (Short 5, Fraser-McGurk 7) Naseem Shah almost gets a breakthrough from just his second delivery as Fraser-McGurk edges between second and third slip. That one reared up at the Australian opener and he was fortunate the nick was as thick as it was, but will gladly pocket the four runs as well. JFM works a couple off his pads then survives a half-hearted appeal for run out to round out the over.
1st over: Australia 12-0 (Short 5, Fraser-McGurk 1) A loose first over from Shaheen Shah Afridi allows the Australian pair to get on the front foot as Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk each get off the mark with a quick single. A wild delivery sails between first and second slip all the way to the boundary for five wides, Shah sends another wide heading to first slip, and Short finishes the over with four all-run off a sublime drive. Just the start Australia needed.
The national anthems are sung, the Australian openers are at the crease, and Shaheen Shah Afridi is steaming in with ball in hand. Game on!
Teams
As confirmed earlier, Australia have shaken up their XI with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne sitting this one out. Josh Inglis will lead a national side for the first time and do so in front of his home crowd.
Pakistan are unchanged and why would they mix things up with the series on the line after a dominant display with bat and ball in the second ODI on Friday night.
Australia XI: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (c, wk), Cooper Connolly, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Lance Morris
Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan (c, wk), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
Pakistan win the toss and choose to field
Mohammad Rizwan wins the coin flip after some debate over whether he called heads or tails and, just as he did on Friday, sends Australia in to bat first at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Josh Inglis is captaining Australia for the first time and says his side “probably would’ve bowled first as well”. Could have been a little more decisive there.
Back to the white-ball game but in a distant land, England have bounced back from their ODI series defeat to West Indies to win the opening T20I in the Caribbean. A Phil Salt onslaught sealed the deal on what was once his home ground:
With one eye already on the blockbuster Test series against India that starts in Perth on 22 November, Australia have named their first squad. Nathan McSweeney has won the Great Australian bat off and will open alongside Usman Khawaja while there is a curious choice for back up batter. Full squad here:
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to the third and final ODI between Australia and Pakistan at Optus Stadium in Perth.
The one-day international series comes down to this after Pakistan stunned Australia with a resounding nine-wicket victory at Adelaide Oval on Friday. The tourists could now break a 22-year drought as well as lay down a marker ahead of a Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan (at least at this stage).
Pakistan skittled Australia for their lowest total in 50-over matches between the teams, then chased down the target of 164 with ease to seal their first win over Australia in the format since 2017. On the other hand, it was Australia’s first nine-wicket defeat on home soil since 1992.
The tourists now have a gilt-edged opportunity to triumph in an ODI series in Australia for the first time since 2002 as the hosts take an undermanned XI into the decider. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will all sit out this ODI and have not even made the trip to Perth as they start to prepare for the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy series against India. Priorities, hey!
Can the next generation take command of the Australia side and claim a stirring series victory? I guess we’re about to find out. I’ll be with you until the innings break when James Wallace will take the reins. First ball is at 11.30am AWST / 2.30pm AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and toss news.
Remember to get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions. You can find me on X @martinpegan or shoot me an email. Let’s get into it!
