Pakistan will face Australia in the 1st ODI of the 3-match series. The match will be played on the 4th of November at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. After capturing the Bazball in their spin web, Pakistan will be high on confidence to beat the current world champions. Both teams have star batters and bowlers and we can expect a thrilling PAK vs AUS white-ball series in the upcoming days.
Let’s take a look at the match prediction of this game including the possible playing XIs, pitch and weather report.
This will be the first assignment of Muhammad Rizwan as the captain of Pakistan white ball team. The veteran Pakistani wicket keeper was appointed the captain a few days ago after the resignation of Babar Azam from the role. He will be looking to make a winning start to his leadership era but it won’t be easy against the mighty Aussies.
Australia has always been a force to reckon with, especially in the ODI format. They have been quite consistent in this format, winning 15 out of their last 17 matches. Australia won the 2023 ODI world cup under the leadership of Pat Cummins. In 2024, they defeated both West Indies and England in ODIs. So, they will be eyeing another series win and continue their streak.
PAK vs AUS – Match Details
Match: Pakistan vs Australia 1st ODI 2024
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne
Date: 4th November, 2024
Time: 2:30 pm local (3:30 am GMT and 9 am IST)
Pakistan has always found it difficult to play in the Australian conditions and they have a pretty bad record there. However, the men in green will be looking to turn things around this time. The fans have high hopes from the senior players to step up especially Babar Azam, who is facing a bad patch recently. After his resignation from captaincy, there will be less pressure on him and he can now only focus on his batting.
On the other hand, Australia has a well-balanced squad containing both senior and junior players. The senior players who are part of the test squad will only be available for the ODI series. They won’t play in the T20 series to get some rest before the Border Gavaskar trophy. In recent times, Australia have complete dominance over Pakistan as they have won 17 out of their last 20 matches across formats.
PAK vs AUS Test Squads
Pakistan Squad
Mohammad Rizwan, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Australian Squad
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
PAK vs AUS – Possible Playing XIs
The possible playing XIs of both teams are given below,
Pakistan
Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Muhmmad Rizwan, Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Faisal Akram, Aamir Jamal. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
Australia
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
PAK vs AUS – 1st ODI Pitch Report
The pitch at the MCG has always proved to be heaven for the fast bowlers and the batters have struggled here. The pacers will enjoy complete swing in the early stages of the innings. There will be bounce on this wicket and due to the long boundaries in Melbourne, the batters will have to push hard to score runs here. The captain winning the toss on this pitch will like to bowl first and try to restrict the opposition team somewhere between 240-270.
PAK vs AUS – 1st ODI Weather Report
The weather prediction is looking great on the 4th of November. There are less than 10 percent chances of rain and the sun will be shining on the sky. As it is a day/night game, the weather will be a bit cloudy during the night but still chances of rain are low. The fans should expect a complete game of cricket
PAK vs AUS – Head-to-Head in ODIs
Pakistan and Australia have faced each other on 108 occasions in the 50-over format so far. The complete head-to-head record is given below,
| Total Matches | 108 |
| Australia won | 72 |
| Pakistan won | 34 |
| Draw | 1 |
| No Result | 3 |
Final Prediction:
Both teams have a strong lineup containing experienced batters and fiery pace attacks. However, Australia has a home advantage and knowing Pakistan’s track record against them we can say that the Aussies will have an upper hand over the green shirts.
Hence, we predict Australia will beat Pakistan in the 1st ODI of the 3-match series taking place in Australia.
