Australia to bowl first with same side that won opening two matches of T20 tri-series in convincing fashion
Aussies unchanged for final preview
Australia captain Aaron Finch has toss and elected to bowl first in their T20 tri-series clash with Pakistan in what shapes as a preview for Sunday's final in Harare.
The Aussies have named an unchanged XI for a third straight match, having defeated Zimbabwe by 100 runs on Tuesday and Pakistan by nine wickets the day before.
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 #AUSvPAK%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 5, 2018
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk), Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi #AUSvPAK%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 5, 2018
Pakistan's victory over the home side on Wednesday eliminated Zimbabwe from the week-long tournament, leaving the two visiting teams as the qualifiers for the decider.
Despite having qualified for the final, there remains plenty at stake for Australia in their three remaining games.
Should they defeat Pakistan, the International Cricket Council's No.1 ranked T20 side, today and then beat Zimbabwe on Friday, they'll rise above Sarfraz Ahmed's side atop the ICC charts.
Pakistan have made two changes for the match against Australia, their final group game, dropping quick Hasan Ali and spinner Mohammad Nawaz for paceman Usman Khan and teenage Shaheen Afridi.
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 beat Zimbabwe by 100 runs
July 4: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets
July 5: Pakistan vs Australia
July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe
July 8: Final