Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl against Australia in the first test in dull, damp conditions at Lord’s on Tuesday, as both teams included two debutants in their line-ups.
The toss was delayed by 90 minutes due to the weather, putting the match back to an 11:00 GMT start.
Australia, which has not lost to Pakistan in a test for 15 years, picked leg-spin bowler Steven Smith and wicketkeeper Tim Paine in a test for the first time, while Pakistan selected young batsmen Umar Amin and Azhar Ali in the absence of experienced players Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan.
Although the match is being played at a neutral venue in London, the series is a home one for Pakistan because of the precarious security situation in their homeland. The second and final test starts on July 21. It is the first neutral test at Lord’s since 1912.
The Marylebone Cricket Club, which is sponsoring the series under its ‘Spirit of Cricket’ campaign, had sold just over 11,000 tickets for each of the first two days, and about 10,000 for the third day, according to a MCC spokeswoman on Monday. Lord’s has a capacity of around 29,000.
Line-ups:-
Pakistan Shahid Afridi (captain), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.
Australia Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.
