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Pakistan enter their second match of the ODI World Cup in confidence after beating the Netherlands in their opening clash and taking on a rattled Sri Lanka, who faced a massive defeat of 102 runs at the hands of Sri Lanka on Tuesday, October 10. In what might prove to be a run-fest at the Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and chose to bat first.
The Lankans were boosted by the return of Maheesh Theekshana, who missed the first match of the tournament, with Shanaka opting for the spin option and dropping Kasun Rajitha. For Pakistan, the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman has made way for Abdullah Shafique.
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Pakistan's 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
Sri Lanka's 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
What the captains said:
The Pakistan captain was confident heading into this match given his team's good record against Sri Lanka. Speaking at the toss, he said, "The wicket looks very dry and the first ten overs is very crucial for us. We aren't up to the mark at the top and we made one change. Abdullah Shafique comes in for Fakhar. Yes, we have a good record against them and we will try to do our best.
Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka spoke about the return of Theekshana and then also added that he was happy with his own performance in the loss to South Africa, where he bagged a half-century. "We are going to bat first since we saw some turn in the later part of the game in the last couple of games. It was so pleasing to get some runs and I worked hard for that and happy to get going in the tournament. One change: Theekshana comes in for Rajitha. See, we need to hit the right areas and hit the yorkers and variations," he said.
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