Australia won the toss and elected to bat againstZimbabwe
Mitch Marsh, back in the country where he spent some happy years in his childhood, chose to bat first under blue skies at Harare Sports Club. It may be a bold decision on a surface which has far more grass than usual. Marsh will be reunited with Travis Head at the top of the order after the pair missed the last two series with Cooper Connolly carded at No.3.
Allrounder Cameron Green misses out due to shoulder soreness while Josh Hazlewood is also out of the XI as his workload is managed in a busy season.
ODI captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are also still at home after being rested from the Zimbabwe portion of the tour. Nathan Ellis will lead the attack alongside Xavier Bartlett and Spencer Johnson, who plays his first ODI since the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe's stand-in captain in the absence of the injured Richard Ngarava, would have bowled first anyway, prompted by the surface and with the expectation that there may be some moisture in the air. Zimbabwe included three seamers in Blessing Muzarabani, Newman Nyamhuri and Brad Evans who, despite his finishing skills, remains at No.8.
Zimbabwe have three players - Raza, Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine - who are 40 in the XI while Graeme Cremer, who will turn 40 next week, is on the bench.
Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 3 Ben Curran, 3 Innocent Kaia, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza (capt), 7 Wessly Madhevere, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Newman Nyamhuri, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Blessing Murazabani
Australia: 1 Mitch Marsh (capt), 2 Travis Head, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Alex Carey, 6 Matt Renshaw, 7 Oliver Peake, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Spencer Johnson
