World Cup: Sri Lanka win toss, opt to bat against Pakistan

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat in the Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Pakistan had an easy opening match and won against the Netherlands by 81 runs while Sri Lanka faced defeat by 102 runs in their campaign opener against South Africa.

Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka said at the toss that the team has made one change.

“We will bat first, there was some assistance for the bowlers in the second half in the previous game. We have one change – Theekshana comes in for Kasun Rajitha. It is about execution and the boys have been playing a lot of cricket and hopefully, we will do well in this game.”

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said the wicket looks very dry and first ten overs are very crucial for his team.

“We aren’t up to the mark at the top and we made one change. Shafique comes in for Fakhar. Yes, we have a good record against them and we will try to do our best.”

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka

Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.