AARON Finch’s men arrive in Zimbabwe knowing a perfect run of results will see them crowned the world’s best Twenty20 International team.

They also know achieving that level of perfection is easier said than done.

Australia will play at least four matches in the T20 tri-series, and the side is short odds to play the final.

Two of those matches will be against hosts Zimbabwe, who sit a lowly 12th on the rankings and will not be fielding their best XI due to issues between the board and its best players. The other two will be against Pakistan.

Pakistan sits No.1 on the T20I rankings, nine rating points ahead of second-placed India and 10 ahead of Australia. Right now, Pakistan is playing Twenty20 cricket at a level previously unseen on the international stage. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s outfit has won its past seven matches in a row, and has only lost three of its past 22 matches since the 2016 World Twenty20.

It has won eight straight T20I series since crashing out before the knockout stages of that tournament. To put that in perspective, prior to this run the longest series winning-streak in T20I cricket was five by the West Indies between June 2012 and March 2013.

In Babar Azam, Pakistan has the No.1 T20I batsman in the world and in Shadab Khan the No.2 bowler.

At the other end of the spectrum is Zimbabwe, a cricketing nation that is in crisis and fighting with its best players.

Three months ago Zimbabwe Cricket sacked the entirety of its coaching staff and captain Graeme Cremer after they failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. At the time Brendan Taylor was the favourite to be named Cremer’s replacement. Neither man is in Zimbabwe’s squad for July’s tri-series – nor are Sean Williams, Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza.

All five have made themselves unavailable and according to Cricinfo more may join them before the series commences, as players chase unpaid match fees and salaries dating back almost a year.

It’s going to be an interesting week in Harare.

Find out everything you need to know about the tri-series in our ultimate guide.

HOW TO WATCH
Watch the entire series live and in HD on Fox Sports

FIXTURES

All times AEST

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 6pm Sunday, July 1

Australia v Pakistan, 6pm Monday, July 2

Zimbabwe v Australia, 6pm Tuesday, July 3

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 6pm Wednesday, July 4

Australia v Pakistan, 6pm Thursday, July 5

Zimbabwe v Australia, 6pm Friday, July 6

Final, 6pm Sunday, July 8

All times AEST

SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Swepson

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Hussain talat, Mohammad Ami, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohamad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan

Zimbabwe: Cephas Zhuwao, Chamu Chibhabha, Brian Chari, Tarisai Musakanda, Malcolm Waller, PJ Moor, Tendai Chisoro, Kyle Jarvis, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Mpofu, Ryan Burl, Solomon Mire, Hamilton Masakadza, Wellington Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Ryan Murray

FORM

Australia (most recent first)
Lost v England by 27 runs at Birmingham

Won v New Zealand by 19 runs (D/L method) at Auckland

Won v New Zealand by five wickets, seven balls at Auckland

Won v England by seven wickets, 33 balls at Melbourne

Won v England by five wickets, nine balls at Hobart

Pakistan (most recent first)
Won v Scotland by 84 runs at Edinburgh

Won v Scotland by 48 runs at Edinburgh

Won v West Indies by eight wickets, 19 balls at Karachi

Won v West Indies by 82 runs at Karachi

Won v West Indies by 143 runs at Karachi

Zimbabwe (most recent first)
Lost v Afghanistan by 17 runs at Sharjah

Lost v Afghanistan by five wickets, 32 balls at Sharjah

Lost v India by three runs at Harare

Lost v India by 10 wickets, 41 balls at Harare

Won v India by two runs at Harare