Pakistan and Australia will play their second ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday, 31 March.
It would be fair to state that the last week has not quite gone the way they would have hoped for Pakistan. Not only did they lost the third Test match, and with it the series, but they were also heavily beaten in the first ODI in Lahore on Tuesday.
That was despite Australia being unable to field their best side due to a mixture of injury, withdrawals and other commitments.
In retrospect, the decision to field after winning the toss might have been a mistake. Travis Head, who had struggled in the test series, suddenly rediscovered his form after being promoted to opener, and hit a hundred. Ben McDermott also made 55 before he was run out, and Australia were able to get to 313/7, a tough, but not impossible target to chase.
But apart from opener Imam ul-Haq (103) and Babar Azam (57), the rest of the batting proved disappointingly fallible. Adam Zampa enjoyed his day, taking 4-38. The 88-run margin of victory emphasised the difference between the two sides on the day.
Pakistan cannot afford to lose this match in Lahore. To have lost the Test series against Australia was bad enough, but to go down in the ODIs as well would be worse.
Likely XIs:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Imam ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Afridi, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Cam Green, Alex Carey (wk), Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis.
Fantasy Tips:
• Finch made 26 in his first ODI for 15 months, and will eye a good score to stake his claim for a place in next year's World Cup.
• Back Babar to come good again.
• If Pakistan have not worked out how to deal with Zampa, he may a big part to play again.