Pakistan Keen to Wrap Series Against Sri Lanka

Sharjah: Pakistan are keen to score a victory against Sri Lanka in the third and final Test starting on Thursday and leapfrog their opponents in the Test rankings.

Pakistan, forced to play the home series in the United Arab Emirates due to lingering security issues in their own country, can jump above Sri Lanka into fifth spot with a victory in the series finale.

Sri Lanka, winless in 13 Tests dating to July 2010, would slip to sixth should they lose in Sharjah.

Pakistan, which lead the series 1-0, dominated the first two Tests, failing to force a win in Abu Dhabi but clinically seeing off the Sri Lankans in four days in Dubai.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said there were no thoughts of playing defensively. Pakistan are expected to field the same team which won by nine wickets in Dubai.

Misbah was pleased with all aspects of the team's performance in the second Test, singling out the four-man attack for praise.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal claimed the man of the match but left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and pace pair Umar Gul and Junaid Khan were also magnificent in support.

Pakistan will need to avoid being distracted by Tuesday's guilty verdicts against former captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif for spot-fixing incidents that blighted the tour of England in the summer of 2010.

Since that scandal, under Misbah's leadership, the team has blossomed and is yet to lose a series, winning four Tests, drawing four and losing just one.

Misbah is one of three players in the Pakistan team, alongside fellow batsmen Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan, who have played Tests previously at the venue. Sharjah has hosted a world record 200 one-day internationals but only four Tests, all back in 2002.

Pakistan defeated West Indies in the first two Tests, in January-February, but then suffered innings defeats against then-No. 1 Australia in both Tests later that year, including a humiliating two-day defeat after being bowled out for 59 and 53.

Sri Lanka's batting in the current series has been a concern, and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said the key to his side's improvement lies with its batsmen.

Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara has been a standout in the series, but fellow veterans Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene are yet to register a half-century.

Sri Lanka has been bowled out for 197, 483, 239 and 257, its only substantial total coming on the back of a Sangakkara double century.

Dilshan may be tempted to move up the order to the opening position where his attacking game has flourished in the past.

The Sri Lankans are expected to bring in off-spinner Suraj Randiv to replace one of the three seamers, with Suranga Lakmal the most likely to miss out.

Teams from

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Wahab Riaz.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Tharanga Paranavitana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Kaushal Silva (wk), Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Kausala Kualasekara.

Pitch and conditions
Maximum temperatures of about 31 degrees will provide the teams with welcome respite, though the humidity will continue to sap them.

Stats & trivia

• Mahela Jayawardene is 105 runs away from becoming the ninth batsman and the first ever Sri Lankan to score 10,000 runs.
• Kumar Sangakkara is eleventh in the all-time list, and 28 runs away from reaching the 9000-run mark.
• Misbah-ul-Haq has led Pakistan in five Test series including the current one, none of which they have lost.

Match facts
November 3-7, 2011
Start time 1000 local (0600 GMT)