Asia Cup: Pakistan elect to bowl first in must-win game vs Sri Lanka

Abu Dhabi, Sep 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Pakistan won the toss and elected to field against Sri Lanka in a must-win Super 4s match of the Men's T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka started the Super 4s stage with defeat -- Pakistan losing to India while Sri Lanka went down to Bangladesh in their opening match. Both teams would like to win the match and stay alive in the competition.

Pakistan decided to go into the match with an unchanged playing XI, while Sri Lanka made two changes, with Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Theekshana coming in for Dunith Wellalage and Mishara.

Pakistan captain Salman Agha said it was a good wicket and he does not expect it to change. "We will bowl first. Looks like a good wicket, don't think it will change much. We want to improve with the bat and ball. It's a new game, a new challenge. We want to focus on today," he said.

Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said he too would have bowled first, but was okay with batting first. He agreed that it was a good pitch. He said that Sri Lanka have been playing good cricket, but there is a little 10 percent that they have to improve, namely batting and bowling at the death.

Playing XIs:

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (c), Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Agha (c), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Haris (wk), Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Source: IANS