Pakistan choose to bowl first in WC showdown against Australia

Pakistan Captain Sarfraz Ahmed on Wednesday chose to bowl first in the 17th match, of the World Cup being played at Taunton, reports Dawn.

"A bit of grass, looks like a green pitch, with a bit of moisture," Sarfraz said while commenting on his choice.

"Unfortunately we didn't play the last game, but worked hard with lots of practice," he added.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain said that he would have chosen to bowl first too.

"In one-off games in different conditions, you expect to come up against the best. It'll have to be wait-and-see what the wicket does first-up."

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan is sitting this match out for unexplained reasons and has been replaced by Shaheen Afridi.

Organisers are hoping to get a result in the group game between defending champion Australia and Pakistan after washouts on consecutive days at Southampton and Bristol.

Cool temperatures and light rain are on the forecast for southwest England today but Britain's Met Office is predicting only a slight chance of rain during the morning at the match venue in Taunton.

Pakistan has already had a game washed out against Sri Lanka in Bristol last Friday and the second game at Bristol between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was abandoned because of rain without a ball being bowled on Tuesday.

There were only 7.3 overs played in the South Africa-West Indies game before it was washed out in Southampton on Monday.

Five-time champion Australia swept Pakistan 5-0 in a one-day international series in March and has won 14 of the last 15 head-to-head encounters.

But the Australians are coming off a loss to India last Sunday in London and the absence of injured allrounder Marcus Stoinis will enforce a lineup change.

Pakistan is coming off a confidence-boosting win over top-ranked England, which ended a run of 11 ODI losses.