Sri Lanka Chosed to Bat in Karachi 1st Test Match

Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 10:41 am

Sri Lanka Chosed to Bat in Karachi 1st Test Match KARACHI: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in the first Test of the series at National Stadium here on Saturday.

Pakistan will be without Mohd. Yousuf — out of the side for signing with the Indian Cricket League — fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar (fitness problems) and Shahid Afridi, who was dropped from the squad for the first Test. The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Younis as captain, replacing Shoaib Malik, after last month’s one-day series against Sri Lanka.

Teams: Pakistan: Younis Khan (captain), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Faisal Iqbal, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Sohail Khan, Yasir Arafat. Mohammad Talha is the 12th man.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Suranga Lakmal, Farveez Maharoof, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Thushara, Chaminda Vaas, Malinda Warnapura.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Aus) and Steve Davis (Aus).
Chris Broad (Match Referee), Zameer Hyder (TV umpire)