Australia's captain George Bailey won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat in a group two Super Eights match of the World Twenty20 in Colombo on Tuesday.
Australia, who won their first two games, will advance to the semi-finals if they win. But the second semi-finalist from the group will be decided only after the India-South Africa game later on Tuesday.
Both Pakistan and India have one win each from two games, while South Africa lost both their matches.
Australia: George Bailey (capt), David Warner, Shane Watson, Matthew Wade, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Abdul Razzaq.
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)