Perera, Mendis in as Sri Lanka Opt to Bat Against Pak

Dubai: Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat for the second time in two games, but were left hoping for a change in the outcome in Dubai.

Mahela Jayawardene, who was struggling with a knee injury in the lead-up to the game, was passed fit, but Sri Lanka made two other changes to their XI. Suranga Lakmal was ruled out with an ankle injury, giving the allrounder Thisara Perera a chance, while Kosala Kulasekara made way for the legspinning allrounder Jeevan Mendis.

Pakistan retained their winning combination from the first game. Misbah-ul-Haq said he would have liked to bat first too. The pitch was unchanged, though it looked drier than it did in Pakistan's spin-inspired win on Friday.

Teams

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando.

Pakistan: Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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