Brisbane, Australia: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat first Sunday in the World Cup Pool B match against Zimbabwe.
With two losses in its opening in two matches to archrival India and West Indies, Pakistan has reached crunch time against Zimbabwe at the Gabba and has taken a gamble to bolster its bowling attack, with veteran batsman Younis Khan dropped in favor of left-arm paceman Rahat Ali.
Another loss would leave the 1992 champions in extreme danger of not making the quarterfinals.
Zimbabwe has one win from its three matches so far, and is coming off a heavy loss to West Indies.
Zimbabwe made three changes to its lineup, with Chamunorwa Chibhabha coming to open in place of Regis Chakabva, allrounder Solomon Mire replacing Stuart Matsikenyeri and Tawanda Mupariwa joining the bowling attack at the expense of Tafadzwa Kamungozi.
Lineups:
Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Haris Sohail, Misbah ul-Haq (captain), Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan.
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura (captain), Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Tendai Chatara.
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough, England, and Joel Wilson, West Indies.
Third Umpire: Paul Reiffel, Australia. Match Referee: Jeff Crowe, New Zealand.
