Pakistan Look to Bounce Back

Colombo: Pakistan will look to get their act together both with bat and ball as they take on Sri Lanka in the third One Day International in Colombo.

Both the ODIs so far have been indicative of one thing, it is imperative for one or two amongst the trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawardene to perform. Sri Lanka have already made one change to their squad, bringing in 34-year-old left-arm-spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon in place of Rangana Herath, who has been rested ahead of the Tests. They have to decide which of the three spinners in the squad to pick: Weerakoon, Jeevan Mendis or Sachithra Senanayake.

On otherhand, Pakistan has relied on its bowlers quite heavily. The batting has never really been Pakistan's mainstay and this series has been no different. A big issue for Misbah and his men has been the fact that most batsmen are horribly out of form.

Pakistan are still waiting on the fitness of fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who is recovering from a thumb injury but not yet 100%. If he is deemed fit, he will take the place of he listless Rahat Ali. Shahid Afridi was down with a stomach bug, but is expected to recover in time to play.

Teams from

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thissara Perera, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sachithra Senanayake, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Dilhara Fernando, Sajeewa Weerakoon

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Younis Khan

Pitch & conditions
Unfortunately at this time of the year Sri Lanka does receive some rainfall and the chance of rain on the day of this match is as high as 60% with heavy rain showers being predicted through the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won eight of their previous nine ODIs at the R Premadasa stadium.
• Left-arm spinner Weerakoon, who is yet to make his international debut, has 693 first-class wickets
• Dinesh Chandimal averages 15.50 in his eight ODI innings against Pakistan, but averages 45.04 in 29 ODIs against other opposition

Match facts
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT, 14:00 Pak)