Asia Cup: Pakistan win toss, opt to bat against Sri Lanka in must-win clash

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat in their must-win Aisa Cup Super Four clash against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Thursday.

The match was delayed by two hours due to rain.

Both teams need a win to seal their place in the final after India defeated Sri Lanka on Tuesday to seal a spot in the final. Pakistan have made a few changes after injuries forced Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf to stay out.

Babar Azam said they will exert pressure by piling up runs.

“We will bat first. We are trying to put runs on the board and put pressure on them. Second innings, the pitch behaves differently. Imam has a back spasm. Fakhar comes back. Saud Shakeel has fever. Abdullah Shafique is playing."

Sri Lanka skipper Dashun Shanaka said they would have bowled first.

“There'll be more assistance for spinners. The way we batted, we had our chances but we couldn't capitalise. We've got a couple of changes. Pramodh Madushan comes in for Rajitha and Kusal Janith comes in for Dimuth Karunaratne."

Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Haris, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Zaman Khan

• Asia Cup: Pakistan make five changes for do-or-die game against Sri Lanka