Australian skipper Ricky Ponting expects Michael Clarke to play in today's second one-day international against Pakistan at the SCG, despite the vice-captain pulling up sore from a blow to the ribs.

Clarke hit 58 on Friday night at the Gabba, sharing a match-winning partnership of 102 for the fourth wicket with Cameron White (105) as Australia reached its target of 275 with nine deliveries and five wickets to spare.

Four overs before he was run out, however, Clarke was hit on the ribs by a short ball from paceman Mohammad Aamer.
Clarke collapsed to the turf in agony before the team's physio rushed on to the field.

''Michael has already flown back to Sydney,'' a team spokesman said yesterday morning from Brisbane. ''But as far as I know, he should be fine. He was a bit sore last night.''

Ponting said: ''I think he'll be OK. It looked pretty sore. I don't know much more about it but he seemed OK in the rooms.''

Adam Voges and James Hopes are on standby in the 13-man squad to replace Clarke.

''We've got 13 so we'll just have to wait and see,'' Ponting said. ''And with someone like Hopes being in the squad, and even Voges, it gives us great flexibility because they can both bat and bowl.'' Ponting said the team was likely to be unchanged ''if everybody is fit''. ''We'll wait and see what it looks like down in Sydney but when you have a win like that, it's pretty rare you make changes,'' he said.

Clarke's possible withdrawal would be a bitter blow to Sydney fans keen to see their hometown hero in action at a time when the 50-over-a-side game is trying to match the popularity of Twenty20 cricket.
Record attendances this month at ANZ Stadium (29,743) and the MCG (43,125) to see domestic Big Bash T20 games mean Sydney's fans are on notice to provide a big crowd at the 46,000-capacity SCG.
Cricket Australia is working on plans for an expanded Big Bash tournament in 2011-12, which could put international and domestic one-day cricket in Australia at risk of facing a reduced schedule. With only 19,758 people attending Friday's Gabba clash, it's only adding to the weight of opinion that the public wants more T20. Ponting's ODI world champions, however, deserve acclaim and big crowds, having crushed all comers in the past five months with 16 wins, three losses and one no-result.

''The last few series we've played in, we've played some incredible one-day games and [Friday night] was another one of those,'' Ponting said in Brisbane. ''If that keeps happening, I don't think anyone can be talking down the 50-over game.''

Ponting also played down criticism of the Gabba attendance figure.
''I think you could almost predict that was going to be the case tonight, just with the amount of cricket being played in Queensland over the last week or 10 days - people have only got a certain amount of money to spend,'' he said.

''And if you are looking at a spectacle, tonight was a great spectacle.
(AAP)