Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Super Four, Asia Cup, Karachi

Amjad debuts as Pakistan field

Pakistan chose to bowl on what was expected to be another placid National Stadium track with loads of runs in it. Shoaib Malik, Pakistan's captain, though felt there was some dampness in the pitch and wanted his bowlers to exploit it. Another reason could be that in the absence of the injured Umar Gul, the Pakistan attack lacks bite and given the ease with which India chased down 300 against them earlier in the week, he would like to avoid having to defend a target.

Pakistan made two changes to their line-up: left-arm medium-pacer Wahab Riaz replaced Gul while the debutant legspinner Mansoor Amjad replaced the allrounder Fawad Alam.
Sri Lanka brought back their big names, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, after resting them in their previous game. Ajantha Mendis retained his place after returning career-best figures against UAE while Dilhara Fernando sat out.

While Pakistan have been struggling with their consistency, one cause of concern for Sri Lanka is that their best batsmen - Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene - have poor records against Pakistan.

With India already on four points, a victory for Sri Lanka today will make it very difficult for Bangladesh and Pakistan to qualify for the final.

Pakistan 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shoaib Malik (capt), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sohail Tanvir, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Mansoor Amjad, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Iftikhar Anjum.

Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Thilan Thushara.

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