Pakistan and Australia head to Lahore for an ODI series decider
It comes down to one game in Lahore. Pakistan and Australia go again at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday with the ODI series tied at 1-1, and whoever holds their nerve under the lights walks away with it.
How the series got here
Pakistan struck first in Rawalpindi, winning the opener by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead. Australia answered in the second match in Lahore on Tuesday, posting 231 for 9 and then squeezing Pakistan out for 190 to win by 41 runs. Shadab Khan's 71 was the one innings that kept the chase alive, but wickets kept falling at the other end. Nathan Ellis did the early damage with four, and Matthew Short picked off three through the middle.
What each side needs to fix
Pakistan's top order is the worry. They lost early wickets again on Tuesday and asked too much of the lower middle order to repair it. Shaheen Shah Afridi, captaining the side, will want runs on the board before he turns his quicks loose. Get a competitive total and Pakistan's attack is good enough to defend it.
Australia found their score from the middle order rather than the top, and they will take confidence from how their bowlers closed out the second game. The batting depth that rescued 231 is the kind of thing that wins deciders.
The decider
It is a day-night game with a 4:30pm local start, the same Gaddafi Stadium surface that has rewarded patience all series. Both teams have used these three matches to look at combinations ahead of a busy calendar. A decider, though, is a decider. Neither side will treat the closing hour as an experiment.
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