Lahore (Web Desk): Pakistan and Sri Lanka cricket teams are set to play crucial Super 4 stage match of Asia Cup 2023 on Thursday in Colombo.
The winner will qualify for final against India.
Rain is expected to interrupt the must-win Pakistan-Sri Lanka match in Colombo today as intermittent rain is forecast throughout the day.
The match will start at 2:30 p.m (PST) if there will be no rain.
This is not the first game in the tournament to be affected by rain. Previously, all games of the Asia Cup 2023 ,Pakistan have played in Sri Lanka, were affected by heavy showers.
India have confirmed their place in the final with four points in their hands after Super Four stage match win, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan both have two points each.
Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka is a must-win, as Pakistan’s net run rate (NRR) stands at 1.892 after their 228-run defeat against India. However, Sri Lanka’s NRR is at 0.2 meaning that if the match is wiped out due to rain, the Lankans will proceed to the finals due to their NRR.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced the playing XI for the Super Four match against Sri Lanka with five changes in the team. The development comes as unfortunately three of Pakistani players, Salman Ali Agha, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf suffered injuries during the game against India
PCB on its official X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Zaman Khan will be part of the team in today’s match against Sri Lanka. The duo have replaced Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah for match against Sri Lanka.
This will be Zaman Khan’s international ODI debut.
Moreover, the Green shirts have also made changes in their batting lineup with Mohammad Haris replacing the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman. Furthermore, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz have made it to the playing XI replacing Salman Ali Agha and Faheem Ashraf have been given rest in tomorrow’s match.
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.
While Sri Lanka would look to stick to the combination that nearly brought them success against India, and changes in Lankan team are unlikely