SYDNEY, April 3: Australia will host Pakistan in a three-match limited-overs series in June, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced on Wednesday.

The first two day-night matches will be played indoors at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on June 12 and June 15 with the third match to be played outdoors in Brisbane on June 19.

ACB chief executive officer James Sutherland said in a statement that the series, to be played out of season during the Australian winter, had been arranged to satisfy the public’s demand for more matches as well as helping the team’s build-up to next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Australia were originally scheduled to tour Zimbabwe in April and May but the tour was cancelled because of player safety concerns.

To be called “Super Challenge II”, the series follows the first Super Challenge series in August 2000, when Australia faced South Africa in the first international matches to be played indoors.—Reuters/AFP