Colombo, Sep 14 (IANS): After a two-hour delay due to rain, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first in the fifth game of the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka at the R. Premdasa Stadium, here on Wednesday.
The match starts at 5.15 pm with the team getting 45 overs each. Powerplay overs will be 9 overs.
Pakistan has had to make five changes in their playing XI. Zaman Khan gets his maiden ODI cap while Imam-ul-Haq sits out with a back spasm, thus Fakhar Zaman getting another chance. Saud Shakeel has a fever and has been replaced by Abdullah Shafiq.
For Sri Lanka, Kusal Perera and Pramod Madushan are in for Dimuth Karunaratne and Kasun Rajitha.
“We will bat first. We are trying to put runs on the board and put pressure on them. Second innings, the pitch behaves differently,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said he would have chosen to bowl first anyway. “We would have bowled first. There'll be more assistance for spinners. The way we batted, we had our chances but we couldn't capitalise," he added.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana