Sri Lanka reach 87-1 in 18th over

Agha Salman removes Avishka Fernando, trapped lbw for 38

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first in the ODI tri-series final against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Saturday.

Pakistan made one change, brining in Faheem Ashraf in place of Shadab Khan.

"Shadab is not feeling well so we have brought in Faheem in his place. We are going with four pacers. We opted to field first as we had in mind that Sri Lanka batted second in the last four games," Pakistan's skipper Shaheen Afridi said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also issued updates about Shadab Khan.

"All-rounder Shadab Khan has been ruled out of the final against Sri Lanka due to medical reason following being struck by a bouncer in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka."

Sri Lanka dropped Eshan Malinga and brought in Maheesh Theekshana.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka lost the toss in the series. Pakistan were outclassed by Sri Lanka in their previous game by eight wickets. Sri Lanka then were downed by England in their final league game.

The final is expected to be a crunch game. Sri Lanka will look to continue with their fine form and Green-shirts will be trying to pull off their best at a big stage.

Pakistan trained hard for the past two days and they would have planned for putting up a better show. The top order will need to click and the experienced batsmen including Babar Azam will need to shoulder respondibility and will require to go deep against a very disciplined Sri Lanka’s bowling line-up.

Pakistan squad:

Fakhar Zaman, Maaz Sadaqat, Babar Azam, Saad Baig, Salman Agha, Hasan Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Arafat Minhas, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah.

Sri Lanka squad:

Kamindu Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Janith Liyanage, Sahan Arachchige, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka.