He might not be as high profiled as some of his other colleagues but he goes about his job in his own peculiar manner. James Hopes has been the star performer for Australia in the first two games. With the bat he scored impressive 48 not out in the first game when all others fell like a pack of cards. And then with the ball he took 2-22. In second game Hopes bowled well and took 2-45 and then opened the batting and scored a neat 48 as Australia came back in the series with a comfortable six wicket win. He is always at batsmen with his tidy medium pacers and with the bat he is stout and plays well within his limits. Hopes made his debut back in 2005 and since then has become almost a regular feature in the Australian line up. The 30 year old Queenslander doesn't boast of impressive ODI record (batting average of 24.71 and bowling average of 31.91) but these records are set to get better in future with his committed efforts. The impressive thing about James Hopes batting in the series so far is that he has played both the fast bowlers and the spinners confidently at a time when the other Australian batsmen haven't been able to do so. Hopes who likes to workout in the gym has also shown good fitness level in testing conditions in UAE. For today's game Australians will one again be expecting Hopes to continue with his consistent performances with bat and ball which has lent stability to their team as the series enters the decisive phase. Nabeel Sabir