AUS vs PAK Pitch report: Sydney Cricket Ground will continue its tradition of hosting the New Year Test as Australia host Pakistan in the third and last match of the series starting on January 3. Legendary Australian opener David Warner is playing his farewell Test match at his home ground, making it an extra special moment for the hosts.
Having already secured the series, the Pat Cummins-led Australian team will be hoping for a winning start to the year 2024. They dominated the Perth Test with a 360-run win but faced some resistance in Melbourne despite winning the game by 79 runs.
On the other hand, Pakistan have not won a Test match in Australia since 1995 and have won only one match in the last 12 overall Test encounters. Shan Masood-led side showed some improvement in blowing at MCG but Australia remain the favourites in Sydney and confirmed the same squad.
SCG, Sydney Cricket Ground Pitch Report
Both batters and bowlers find a balanced surface at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground in red-ball cricket. The average first innings score here is 319, adding some help to pace bowlers with a new ball. Batters have scorched big scores here as well once the ball gets old. Four of the last five Test matches at SCG resulted in draws so, fans can expect a run-fest in David Warner's farewell game.
Sydney Cricket Ground - The Numbers Game
Test Stats
Total Test matches - 112
Matches won batting first - 47
Matches won bowling first - 41
Average 1st Inns scores - 319
Average 2nd Inns scores - 312
Average 3rd Inns scores - 251
Average 4th Inns scores - 171
Highest total recorded - 705/7 (187.3 Ov) by India vs Australia in January 2004
Lowest total recorded - 42/10 (37.3 Ov) by Australia vs England in 1888
AUS vs PAK, 3rd Test Squads:
Australia Test Squad: Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Scott Boland
Pakistan Test squad: Shan Masood (c), Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Aamer Jamal, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Nawaz
