Pakistan opt to bowl against Australia

Taunton, June 12 (IANS) Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to field against Australia in their league clash of the ongoing World Cup at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Wednesday.

Australia have made two changes in their playing eleven as Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa have been replaced by Shaun Marsh and Kane Richardson. Pakistan meanwhile, made one change as Shadab Khan has been replaced by Shaheen Afridi.

At the toss, Sarfaraz Ahmed: We are going to bowl first today. There's a bit of grass and moisture on the pitch, so we need to take advantage of that. Unfortunately we couldn't play the last game, but we practised hard in the last few days so the momentum is very high for us. Shadab Khan will sit out today and Shaheen Afridi comes back in for us. One of our Test umpires (Riazuddin) has passed away, and in honour of him, we're all going to wear black bands today.

Aaron Finch: Would've bowled first too. A tinge of green and some moisture in the wicket. In a World Cup, winning so many against Pakistan doesn't really matter much. We have to wait and see what the wicket plays like. I expect some swing and seam-movement. It depends on the game. India bowled really well to us as did Afghanistan. Marcus Stoinis is out with a side-strain, Shaun Marsh comes in for him, and Kane Richardson comes in for Adam Zampa.

Playing XI: Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (Captain/wicket-keeper), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (Captain), Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson