Australia to bat first against hosts Zimbabwe as they look to make it two in a row in the T20 tri-series in Harare
Australia unchanged for Zimbabwe clash
Australia will bat first in their second match of the T20I tri-series after Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza won the toss in Harare.
Australia are fielding an unchanged XI from the team that cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Pakistan on Monday, with Aaron Finch’s team needing to back up after an impressive display that snapped their nine-match losing streak.
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), D'Arcy Short, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake #ZIMvAUS%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 3, 2018
Zimbabwe XI: Solomon Mire, Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza (c), Tarisai Musakanda, Peter Moor (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chisoro, Chris Mpofu, John Nyumbu, Blessing Muzarabani #ZIMvAUS%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 3, 2018
Zimbabwe have made one change to their line-up after going down to Pakistan by 74 runs in the series opener, with Christopher Mpofu coming in for Kyle Jarvis, who suffered a broken thumb on Sunday.
Towering quick Billy Stanlake produced a stunning spell of 4-8 on Monday against Pakistan and now has his sights set on continuing that form against Zimbabwe.
"I think the challenge for me has been to do that game after game," he said.
"I’m feeling really good at the moment; the body is feeling good and I’ll be getting ready to go for tomorrow."
On Sunday, Finch said he would not be taking anything for granted against a depleted Zimbabwe squad.
"Never take anything for granted, particularly in T20," Finch said.
"We know it’s a game that anyone can win by themselves on a given day so it’s really important that we come here and make sure we’re 100 per cent focused each and every game.
"All teams are missing a few players but that’s the nature of sport, you have injuries, you have some other issues that might pop up every now and then. We’re really confident coming into this series.
"We’re ranked (No.3) in the world behind Pakistan so it’s a really good opportunity to test ourselves again and make sure we’re measuring up and we’re still improving in this format."
All matches in the T20 tri-series will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports while there will be live scores, highlights and all the latest news on cricket.com.au
Zimbabwe XI: Solomon Mire, Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza (c), Tarisai Musakanda, Peter Moor (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chisoro, Christopher Mpofu, John Nyumbu, Blessing Muzarabani
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), D'Arcy Short, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Mitch Swepson, Billy Stanlake
Qantas Tour of Zimbabwe
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth
Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan Shinwari, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan.
Zimbabwe squad: Hamilton Masakadza (c), Cephas Zhuwao, Chamu Chibhabha, Brian Chari, Tarisai Musakanda, Malcolm Waller, PJ Moor, Tendai Chisoro, Kyle Jarvis, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Mpofu, Ryan Burl, Solomon Mire, Wellington Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Ryan Murray
July 1: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 74 runs
July 2: Australia beat Pakistan by 9 wickets
July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe
July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
July 5: Pakistan vs Australia
July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe
July 8: Final