Toss Australia chose to bat v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Michael Clarke won the toss and had little hesitation in choosing to bat to open their campaign against the defending champions Pakistan at St Lucia. In Clarke, Australia have a new captain in a global event for the first time since 1999 and they bring a new approach. They have been accused of not being Twenty20 enough in previous editions, relying too much on traditional Test and ODI players.
But with David Warner, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait, Cameron White and David Hussey they appear to be more in sync with the demands of the format this time round. Shahid Afridi, Pakistan's captain, wanted Nathan Hauritz to play but Australia have opted for Steven Smith, the young, blond legspinner who made an impressive debut against Pakistan earlier this year. Pace, in Mitchell Johnson, Tait and Nannes, is still their way.
Pakistan will be happy to come out relatively unscathed from a potentially difficult first encounter. Bonuses came in the way of Salman Butt hinting he may, after all, adjust to the demands of 20-over batting; the decision to drop Mohammad Asif might have surprised a few but Mohammad Sami's format debut was an encouraging and match-shifting one.
Unsurprisingly they are unchanged and will only hope that Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, two vital allrounders who performed poorly in the first game, overcome the blips swiftly.
Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Michael Hussey, 8 Steven Smith, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Dirk Nannes, 11 Shaun Tait
Pakistan 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shahid Afridi (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Misbah-ul-Haq, 7 Fawad Alam, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Saeed Ajmal
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