Who will win Australia vs Pakistan (1st Test)?
Australia head to Pakistan for their first test series since the ball-tampering scandal engulfed them in South Africa. The match is scheduled to take place from October 7-11 and the live action begins at 09:30 local time each day.
Pakistan vs Australia (1st Test): Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Fox Sports, Sky Sports, Sony Six, Willow TV, SuperSport, GTV
Live streaming: SonyLiv, Willow TV Online, OSN Play, Foxtel Sports
Toss Prediction
Teams winning the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium bat first and look to take advantage before the pitch cracks.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Pakistan vs Australia (1st Test).
Pakistan Team News & Playing 11
PAK Team News
Pakistan will be without Shadab Khan for the first test in Dubai, denying them the chance to pair Yasir Shah with Shadab in leg-spinning tandem. Bilal Asif will play instead, making his test debut, while Mohammad Hafeez is set to return for his first test in more than two years.
Mickey Arthur’s other selection headache centres around his pace attack, with Mohammad Abbas definitely in and Wahab Riaz and uncapped Mir Hamza competing to partner him in the absence of Mohammad Amir, who has been dropped after a poor run of form.
PAK Key Players
Azhar Ali has scored 825 runs in his last ten test matches for Pakistan, although he did manage just one half-century in four innings against England in their most recent series. Nevertheless, he is the highest-ranked Pakistan batsman in the ICC World Test Rankings.
Imam-ul-Haq was also short of runs against England, but links up with the test squad on the back of his three half-centuries in five ODI games at the Asia Cup – finishing as Pakistan’s top run scorer with 225 in five innings.
With the ball, Mohammad Abbas will lead the pace attack having claimed 42 wickets in his first eight tests. That includes his match-winning match figures of 8-64 in the first test against England, which earned him the man of the match award. He most recently claimed 50 wickets in ten matches for Leicestershire in the County Championship.
Yasir Shah, who missed the tour of England and Ireland, leads the spin bowling unit, meanwhile, and has picked up 46 wickets in his last seven tests.
PAK Team Form
Pakistan’s last test series saw them draw with England over two matches, winning by nine wickets at Lord’s before an innings defeat inside three days at Headingley. In the former, Mohammad Abbas was the star man, claiming four wickets in each innings as Pakistan dismissed the hosts for 184 and 242 in their two innings.
They had earlier beaten Ireland by five wickets in a one-off test – the Irish’s first ever test – at Malahide. Abbas was again one of their star men, picking up 4-44 and 5-66 in the two Irish innings, before Imam Ul-Haq and Babar Azam helped them recover from 14-3 in pursuit of 160 to win, both hitting half-centuries.
Their most recent ‘home’ test series, in the UAE, ended in defeat, however after losing both tests in the two-game series to Sri Lanka.
Pakistan Predicted Playing 11
Azhar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza
Australia Team News & Playing 11
AUS Team News
Australia could field four debutants for the first test against Pakistan, with Marnus Labuschagne set to open the batting with Aaron Finch following Matt Renshaw’s injury when fielding against Pakistan A. Alongside Labuschagne and Finch’s first test appearances, Travis Head and Michael Neser could also earn their first test caps. The latter is vying with Peter Siddle for a place in the pace attack alongside Mitchell Starc, with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood out injured. Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft are all, of course, suspended following the ball-tampering scandal that engulfed Australian cricket.
AUS Key Players
Shaun Marsh is one of the stand-out batsmen in the inexperienced Australian top order, having scored 592 runs in his last nine test matches before also hitting 94 against Pakistan A in the warm-up match for this series. His most recent international action saw him smash two centuries against England.
Aaron Finch scored a half-century in the warm-up game against Pakistan A and, while this is his first test, he has played 135 previous internationals in the two limited-overs formats, hitting 27 half-centuries and 13 centuries across them both in that time.
Nathan Lyon will be a key man with the ball if the wicket turns, meanwhile. His last ten test matches have yielded 50 wickets, and he claimed 8-103 in the first innings against Pakistan A. Mitchell Starc leads the pace attack, meanwhile, having claimed 182 wickets in his first 43 test matches thanks to his left-arm seam.
AUS Team Form
This is Australia’s first test series since the 3-1 series defeat in South Africa, which was overshadowed by the ball-tampering scandal. Having previously beaten England 4-0 in the five-test Ashes series, it was a serious come down for the Aussies who struggled even before scandal struck. While they won the first test, with Mitchell Starc claiming nine wickets in a 118-run triumph, they lost the next three. They were dismissed for 243 and 239 as South Africa won by six wickets at Port Elizabeth before collapsing to 107 all out in a 322-run defeat in the scandal-hit third test at Cape Town. With Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft heading home, the Aussies were then crushed in the final test, despite nine wickets and a half-century for Pat Cummins. Already trailing by 267 after the first innings, South Africa set them an unlikely 611 to win the match – and the Australians were dismissed for just 119.
Australia Predicted Playing 11
Aaron Finch, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Travis Head, Ashton Agar, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc
Oct 07 - Oct 11, 2018
11:30 IST / 6:00 GMT
Dubai Cricket Stadium - Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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