Sri Lanka bat against Pakistan

Fatullah - Sri Lanka's captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the opening match of the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Fatullah on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka, fresh from victories in the preceding Test, one-day and Twenty20 series against Bangladesh, were without the injured trio of opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, seamer Nuwan Kulasekara and spinner Rangana Herath.

Sri Lanka handed an international debut to Chaturanga de Silva, a 24-year-old all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm spin.

Defending champions Pakistan went in with a balanced bowling attack of three specialist seamers and three spinners, led by the versatile Saeed Ajmal.

India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the other teams in the tournament that will decide the regional champion in one-day cricket.

Teams:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Sachithra Senanayake. Chaturanga de Silva.

Umpires: Johan Cloete (RSA) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)

TV umpire: Anisur Rahman (BAN)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

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