10th over: Pakistan 35-2 (Rizwan 2, Babar 20) Here's the bowling change we're predicting: Sean Abbott replaces Pat Cummins and he bowls to Rizwan, who is still on zero. And it's almost a phase out! The ball was completely out of the field, it went to cover and Babar took off, even though the fielder was Marnus Labuschagne. He lunges and throws the ball towards the stumps but misses as Rizwan jumps. A direct hit would have gotten him there. Finally, Rizwan gets the breakthrough with a strange slice that goes to cover for two.

9th over: Pakistan 32-2 (Rizwan 0, Babar 19) Starc has now reached his fifth over. His pace is increasing and he has two wickets in his kit, so the great man's excellent record against Pakistan continues today. He lets new batsman Rizwan attack and hits him in his gloves. Starc puts the next ball past the goal. He knows that Rizwan hasn't scored from seven balls so far and is looking to try a wild swing. There are no dice this time, but it is another Starc maiden.

8th over: Pakistan 32-2 (Rizwan 0, Babar 19) Babar hits Cummins for four! Great shot from Pakistan's 117 ODI veteran. Captain Pat may need to take a breather here. He scored 10 in his last over and now he has been beaten through the wicket with Vim. For the next few hits, Pat gets his radar right, but on the last roll of the dice he misses the ball and Babar steps out to slam it into the ground. Four more!

7th over: Pakistan 24-2 (Rizwan 0, Babar 11) Starc's first ball is full but goes just wide of the offside and Abdullah hits it with a lovely shot on the rise. Abbott manages to grab this one but Pakistan steals two more runs. Starc's wicket on his fourth ball brought Mohammad Rizwan to the crease and he managed to deliver the last two balls.

WICKET! Pakistan 24-2 (Shafique v Inglis v Starc 12)

6th round: Pakistan 22-1 (Abdullah 10, Babar 11) Another misjudgment from Abbott! Babar drove Cummins offside and Abbott slipped on the rebound to hit the ball but somehow lost sight of it and Babar ran for two when he should have been reduced to a single. Now Babar pushes one to fine leg for a single. Now Cummins is left behind Abdullah Shafique and BANG! He rocks back and hits it on the ground to mark Pakistan's first boundary of the day. Great counterattack from Pakistan. And now they show finesse, Abdullah clipping his knuckles to steal two more runs through midwicket. A single from the last over gives Pakiustan a 10-run over and gives Pat Cummins plenty to think about.

5th over: Pakistan 12-1 (Abdullah 3, Babar 8) Babar hits it! Great statement of intent from the Pakistani pulverizer. At that time, only a finger thrown to the right prevented a boundary. He gets two runs from Starc. And now Abdullah runs a quick – and risky – single. For once, Cummins is imperfect, a wild throw destroying any chance of a runout. Babar is back after a few weeks break. He's been playing golf and, judging by the first shot of the over, he brought his long irons to the MCG today. He shoots on Starc's final throw and defuses Sean Abbott's miss. Three runs.

4th round: Pakistan 5:1 (Abdullah 2, Babar 2) Here's Cummins, busily making his way to the goal line. Babar Azam came into the middle after the loss of Ayub and immediately sank two beautiful shots for Starc to level with Abdullah. The Pakistan batters couldn't do better in this over as Cummins hits the target straight away. It's a virgin.

WICKET! Pakistan 3-1 (Ayub bowls Starc 1)

3rd round: Pakistan 3-0 (Ayub 1, Shafique 2) Starc returns. His first raid saw the speed gun swell to 86 mph, but in this raid there is a deeper bend backwards. Ayub leaves the first few alone, desperate to put together a big innings and drive away the Australian assassin…

2nd over: Pakistan 3-0 (Ayub 1, Shafique 2) Saim Ayub now has the strike against Australia captain Pat Cummins and he gets some bat on the first pitch, not much but enough to run a single. Pakistan is wrong and so is Ayub. Now Shafique comes off his duck with a strong punch through point. Glenn Maxwell gets it back in the outfield. Now Cummins the Wizard appears! His fourth ball is beautiful, just a short length behind and whizzing past the edge of Shafique's batting blade. Good comeback from the skipper.

1st round: Pakistan 0-0 (Saim 0, Shafique 0) Abdullah Shafique has survived the first few deliveries and Starc has already managed a slight swing back to the right-handed batsman. The third ball is a fat full-pitch yorker on the off side and Shafique has swing but is beaten for his pace. He doesn't get close to the fifth and kills the last delivery. A maiden to help us get started

Mitchell Starc has the new ball and we're about to get started with the first ball of the Australian international summer…

Wiradjuri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin gently and generously welcomes the teams and a small but lively MCG crowd to the country. Melbourne is in the middle of its spring racing carnival and many locals took today off for the Melbourne Cup, “the race that stops a nation”. Famous American author Mark Twain visited the Cup in 1895 and wrote: “The stands present a brilliant and wonderful spectacle, a riot of color, a vision of beauty. “The champagne is flowing, everyone is lively, excited, happy.”

Pat Cummins wins the toss and Australia will bowl first at the MCG

Pakistan have long been an unpredictable cricket team and few predicted their Test series victory against England last month. Having completed a total of over 500 innings in the first innings, they seemed set for victory but capitulated spectacularly, losing the first Test by an innings margin. But under the calm, determined leadership of Gillespie they fought back and won the next two Tests. This is how James Wallace understood this madness…

Regardless of who wins the toss, many cricket fans will be hoping to see Australia's 22-year-old batting superstar Jake Fraser-McGurk unleashed.

Despite being the new coach of Pakistan, Jason Gillespie is a popular figure in Australian cricket. “Dizzy”, the great-grandson of a Kamilaroi warrior, is considered our first male indigenous Test cricketer.

Born in Sydney and raised in Adelaide, Gillespie produced 259 wickets and a further 142 scalps from his 97 ODIs in his celebrated 71-Test career. With his magnificent mullet, magnificent mustache and the sneering grin of a fast bowler who could curdle a batsman's marrow at 10 paces, he was a dream to look at and a nightmare to face.

Oddly enough, Gillespie's most famous moment came with the bat: his first Test century was a hard-to-believe unbeaten 201 in Bangladesh – the highest score in the history of a night watchman and an innings of 574 minutes and 425 balls.

Mohammad Hasnain will be familiar to some Australians. The beanstalk fast-spinner with the lightning-quick right arm was first spotted on these shores in 2019 when he made his ODI debut as an 18-year-old. At the time he was regularly hitting the speed gun at 150km/h, but injuries derailed his career and affected his speed. Five years later, as a 24-year-old, he makes a welcome return for his tenth white-ball game for Pakistan.

Hasnain looked pretty good in the nets at the MCG on Saturday as he bowled under the watchful eye of Pakistan's new Australian coach Jason Gillespie…

preamble

Angus Fontaine