Australia wins the toss and bats first in the series-opening cricket test against Pakistan #Australia #wins #toss #bats #seriesopening #cricket #test #Pakistan

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia skipper Pat Cummins won the toss Thursday and opted to bat first in the series-opening test against Pakistan.

The Australians are coming off a victory in the Cricket World Cup in India last month and the World Test Championship final earlier in the year.

The only change to Australia’s XI from its previous test match was the return of veteran offspinner Nathan Lyon, who was injured in the Ashes series in England but is back and aiming to surpass 500 career test wickets.

Pakistan selected an inexperienced bowling attack with Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad each given a test debut to support frontline paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Shan Masood’s Pakistan bowling attack contains four seamers and a spinner on a pitch at Perth Stadium that offers bounce and carry.

___

Lineups:

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (captain), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad.