Kandy (Sri Lanka), Feb 28 (IANS) Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl against Pakistan in their last match of the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s played at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy on Saturday.
Pakistan have made big changes in the playing XI as former captain Babar Azam, who was struggling for form, has been dropped from the team, while Saim Ayub is also not included in the playing XI.
Pakistan are coming into the contest after suffering a close defeat against the two-time champions, England, on Tuesday. While on the other side, Sri Lanka have been eliminated from the tournament after suffering back-to-back defeats against England and New Zealand in their first two Super 8s matches.
Pakistan can still qualify for the semifinals if they beat Sri Lanka by a margin of 64 runs to surpass the Net Run Rate (NRR) of New Zealand.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said, “We’re gonna bowl first. It is a good pitch, and later on, there might be dew as well. We got some good players in our lineup, and of course, we need to do our basics right. So yeah, we didn’t do the basics well enough to pull out a win in the last two games. But here, we know we need to make it right in all three departments.”
“They (the fans) still always love us regardless of whether we win or lose, so it’s good motivation, I think. Thank you very much to all the fans here. So yeah, we are looking forward to the game. Two changes. Kamil Mishara comes in for Kusal Mendis, who pulled out with an injury, and Dushan Hemantha is out. Janith (Liyanage) comes in,” he added.
While after losing the toss, Pakistan captain Salman Agha said, “Massive opportunity. We need to bat well, bowl well, and field well, and everything will be fine. We need to put up a good total and try to restrict them. Sometimes it can be tough, and sometimes it can be easy; it’s a mixed feeling knowing what we need to do. We got three changes: Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, and Salman Mirza are not playing. Naseem Shah, Khawaja Nafay, and Abrar Ahmed are playing. “
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Khawaja Nafay, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara (wk), Charith Asalanka, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
–IANS
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