Pakistan wins toss, elects to field in 1st ODI against Zimbabwe

Fast bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal, wicketkeeper-batter Haseebullah Khan and left-arm spinner Faisal Akram made their ODI debuts after Pakistan opted to rest frontline players Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah for the white-ball series in Zimbabwe.

Pakistan will be hoping to keep its momentum going after it beat Australia 2-1 in an ODI series for the first time in Australia in 22 years.

“Maybe the first hour will be difficult and we want to take advantage of that,” Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan said. “The confidence is high and we’d like to continue in the same way.”

Fast bowler Haris Rauf, who picked up 10 wickets in three ODIs in Australia, will spearhead Pakistan pace attack with Mohammad Hasnain and Jamal the other fast bowling options.

Zimbabwe has an experienced top-order batting line-up with the likes of captain Craig Ervine, Siakandar Raza and Sean Williams. The home team awarded a debut to all-rounder Brian Bennett, who is a handy hard-hitting batter in the middle-order.

Ervine also wanted to bowl first in overcast conditions, but was happy with his team’s preparations.

“Our week’s preparation has been really good,” Ervine said. “The guys brought a lot of intensity, great attitude to this week’s training and expecting more of that as well.”

The three-match ODI series will be followed by three T20s with Bulawayo hosting all the matches.

Line-ups:

Zimbabwe: Tadiwanashe Marumani, Joylord Gumbie, Dion Myers, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Brian Bennett, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu.

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan, Aamer Jamal, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Faisal Akram.

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