2019 Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is, 2 Tests)

[Bomberboyokay]

Starts 11:30pm AEST tonight. All 3 games from the beautiful city of Lahore.

Team news

Umar Akmal is likely to slot into the middle order, while Babar Azam is likely to open. On the seam-bowling front, they will have to decide between Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Usman Shinwari and Mohammad Hasnain.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Usman Shinwari/ Mohammad Hasnain

With Minod Bhanuka having played a decent hand with the bat on Wednesday, he may be preferred to Sadeera Samarawickrama. Pradeep will likely make the XI for his experience, while Isuru Udana is also likely to slot in.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Shehan Jayasuriya, 4 Angelo Perera, 5 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Lahiru Madushanka, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

A test for Sri Lanka's next gen as Pakistan look to re-establish their T20I credentials

With their batting firepower bolstered, the hosts will hope to reimpose themselves in the format against a depleted Sri Lanka

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[corbies]

There was also 3 ODIs as part of this which Pakistan won 2-0 which was not unexpected given it's a fairly depleted side that has been sent to Pakistan. A few pulled out for security reasons.

 

[Sammo360]

Wasn't there supposed to be 2 Tests?

 

[Milang_Panthers]

Hasnain gets a hat trick and doesn't even realise it

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Sri Lanka won

 

[Milang_Panthers]

Yeah was a good win. Put a decent total on the board and strangled Pakistan who couldn't get going while there was a constant flow of wickets including a comical run out where they had to go to the third umpire to decide which batsmen was out because they were both at the same end.

 

[Sammo360]

Test cricket is back in Pakistan, but it's more than a feel-good narrative

Sri Lanka have picked a full-strength squad, with an eye on maximum Test Championship points

www.espncricinfo.com

Big day for Pakistan cricket today with Test cricket returning home

3:45pm AEDT on Fox Sports.

If all goes well, this should be the end of Pakistan playing their home games in the UAE.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Test cricket is back in Pakistan, but it's more than a feel-good narrative

Sri Lanka have picked a full-strength squad, with an eye on maximum Test Championship points

www.espncricinfo.com

Big day for Pakistan cricket today with Test cricket returning home

3:45pm AEDT on Fox Sports.

If all goes well, this should be the end of Pakistan playing their home games in the UAE.

Great day for Pakistan and for cricket. Looking forward to watching. Strongest Sri Lankan batting line up in a while assuming sanity prevails and Chandimal is included. Babar’s good form should continue you’d think.

 

[corbies]

Pakistan are going with 4 fast bowlers and have left out Yasir.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Pakistan are going with 4 fast bowlers and have left out Yasir.

Seems like a very weird decision.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Sri Lanka have a reasonably decent batting line up. Under Arthur I can see them having a better few years than most teams other than Aus, Eng, India and NZ. They need to sort their bowling out but I think their line up is going to be more solid than South Africa over the next couple of years. They just need to keep it together. Karunaratne, Mendis, Matthews, Chandimal, De Silva and Dickwella is the foundation of a reasonable batting side.

 

[Woody15]

Anyone get a chance to watch any of this? Good crowds in?

 

[PhatBoy]

Anyone get a chance to watch any of this? Good crowds in?

in the square of the wicket stands there were good crowds. Straight stands were empty. Made it probably look worse than it was on the coverage

 

[ioppolo]

Rain has ruined the first test. Start of day four delayed after days 2 and 3 got about 15 overs in combined.

 

[Park cricketer]

Pakistan's stadiums are outdated due to the lack of cricket for a decade. A day's play has been lost due to the inability of the groundsmen to clear the water, albeit with poor equipments. The PCB should just host matches at Lahore and Karachi for the time being before they get their house in order.

 

[Sammo360]

Finally a nice and sunny day at Rawalpindi and the fans have turned up. Big crowd.

 

[Sammo360]

Joel Wilson still making bad decisions.

 

[PhatBoy]

Might not be the same as playing Australia in Australia but with 2 centuries in 3 test innings to start his career can’t help but think Pakistan might have waited a series too long to give Abid Ali a start

 

[DaRick]

Might not be the same as playing Australia in Australia but with 2 centuries in 3 test innings to start his career can’t help but think Pakistan might have waited a series too long to give Abid Ali a start

As a rule of thumb it is easier to debut in front of home crowds than it is away, which might have factored into PAK thinking.

 

[PhatBoy]

As a rule of thumb it is easier to debut in front of home crowds than it is away, which might have factored into PAK thinking.

Not really judging by the fact that tue debuted two teenage fast bowlers

 

[ioppolo]

Well Sri Lanka have seriously blown that first innings lead.

 

[Ok Boomer]

Pakistan’s top order filling their boots, terrific performance.

 

[Damon_3388]

Babar Azam has passed 50 in 5 of his last 6 Test innings, including 3 centuries and a 97. An average of 117.75 with a strike rate of 70.09. Really coming into his own of late, and living up to his immense potential.

Still only 25 years old, with a Test average of 42.67 now, to go along with an ODI average of 54.17, and a T20I average of 50.17.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Not really judging by the fact that tue debuted two teenage fast bowlers

Fast bowlers should adapt to Australian conditions far easier than batsmen from the sub-continent. Batting here is probably the most difficult adjustment in the game.

 

[PhatBoy]

Fast bowlers should adapt to Australian conditions far easier than batsmen from the sub-continent. Batting here is probably the most difficult adjustment in the game.

16 and 18 year old fast bowlers?

Pakistan wickets aren’t as low and slow as Indian and Sri Lankan pitches. There’s a reason why yousuf. Younis, Azhar Ali, Assad Shafiq, and yes even yasir shah have made big scores here with little experience in the conditions i