Abid to replace Imam as Pakistan look to seal the series against Sri Lanka

KARACHI: Right-handed opening batsman, Abid Ali will replace Imam Ul Haq in the third ODI, who injured his left hand while fielding and had left the field during the second ODI of the series.

Abid announced his arrival in the international cricket with a blistering century on his debut against Australia in Dubai. Recently, he was in top form during the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, playing an impressive knock of unbeaten 249.

As Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in the third ODI of the series at the National Stadium Karachi, they will look to seal the series, while the visitors will be hoping to level the series with a win.

The hosts are leading the three-match series by 1-0 as the first game of the campaign was abandoned due to rain in Karachi, which was the first instance in the history of NSK.

Pakistan won the second encounter of the series by 67 runs, courtesy of an inspiring century by Babar Azam and a five-wicket haul by Usman Shinwari. The duo got their names on the newly installed honours board of the NSK.

Sri Lanka were in all sorts of trouble with five down for just 28 runs, but a stubborn partnership of 177 runs between Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka contributing 96 and 68 runs respectively, to guide their team to a fight.

Pakistani players will be eyeing to put up impressive performance in front of their home crowd. The Lankan Lions will like to see the back of Babar Azam early in his inning, however, they should be wary of the destructive opening pair of Fakhar Zaman and Imam Ul Haq, while the middle-order consisting of Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz Ahmed and Imad Wasim can also cause problems to them.

On the other hand, visitors’ batsmen will have to step up, they cannot afford to give Usman Shinwari easy wickets, who have got two five-fors in the last three ODIs against them.

Sri Lanka, though having an inexperienced side, are talented and capable of giving Pakistan a tough time in the middle. The fans will like to see a close encounter between the two sides as the second match of the series was very much one-sided.

The toss will take place at 2:30 PM PST, while the game will start at 3:00 PM.

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