Sri Lanka and Pakistan will play in their final Super Four game of the Asia Cup 2023 on Thursday. Both teams will have an opportunity to seal a berth in the final on Thursday. Pakistan’s only defeat in the tournament so far has come against India. They will be looking to get back to winning ways against Sri Lanka.
However, injuries have been a key area of concern for Babar Azam’s men, keeping in line with their trend to announce their playing XI a day in advance, PCB revealed that five changes have been made to the team which suffered a hefty 228-run defeat to India.
Naseem Shah has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, and Haris Rauf won’t be playing against Sri Lanka as a precaution.
ALSO READ| 5 Changes in Babar Azam-led Pakistan’s Playing XI for Must-win Asia Cup Tie vs Sri Lanka, Haris Rauf Left Out
The Super Four clash between the two strong sides will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hosts recently took the second spot on the list of most consecutive ODIs win after beating Bangladesh in their first game of the Super Four. They conceded a defeat against the Men in Blue and will look to learn from their mistakes in their next game.
Pakistan were disappointing in their last Asia Cup game against arch-rivals India. Their top bowlers including Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were unable to stop the wrath of India’s batters resulting in a 228-run defeat.
Sri Lanka made a valiant effort to stretch their undefeated run to 14 but the Men in Blue just proved to be too strong. The entire Indian squad was dismissed at a total of 213 runs. However, Sri Lanka failed to perform during their batting, leading to a 41-run defeat. The victory helped Rohit Sharma’s men in qualifying for the Asia Cup final stage. The final is scheduled to be played on Sunday, September 17.
SL vs PAK Dream11 Prediction
Captain: Dunith Wellalage
Vice-captain: Maheesh Theekshana
Wicketkeeper: Kusal Mendis
Batters: Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka
All-rounders: Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage
Bowlers: Haris Rauf, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana
SL vs PAK Probable XIs:
SL Probable XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dunith Wellalage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (C), Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana
PAK Playing XI: Mohammad Haris, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Zaman Khan
SL vs PAK Full Squad
Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Binura Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Pramod Madushan
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah (ruled out), Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir