COLOMBO: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in the eleventh match of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023.
PLAYING XIs
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
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan.
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:
Overall ODIs: Matches 155, Pakistan 92, Sri Lanka 58, NR 4, Tie 1
Asia Cup ODI: Matches 15, Pakistan 4, Sri Lanka 11
READ: Pakistan, India set for rematch but rain threat persists despite reserve day
COLOMBO: The toss of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023’s Super 4 clash between Pakistan and Sri Lanka has been delayed due to rain in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
This match is the final Super 4 game of both teams in the Asia Cup 2023 and is serving as a virtual semi-final, as the winner will face India in the final of the tournament.
Notably, if the all-important clash between Pakistan and Sri Lanka gets washed out then Sri Lanka will join India in the final due to a superior net run rate.
Pakistan’s net run rate suffered a major nosedive and is currently standing at -1.892, due to their heavy 228-run loss against arch-rivals India in their second Super 4 match of Asia Cup 2023.
Star batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul scored unbeaten centuries after the match was forced into the reserve day due to the heavy rain in Colombo. Kuldeep Yadav, then wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up as he picked five wickets to book Pakistan to a meagre 194 while chasing a mammoth 357.
Prior to that, Pakistan powered to a resounding seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their first Super 4 match at Lahore, thanks to a combined effort by both batters and bowlers.
Haris Rauf picked four wickets in the first innings to rattle Bangladesh, which was followed by half-centuries by Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan in the pursuit of Bangladesh’s 193.
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