Sri Lanka chooses to bowl first in semi-final against Pakistan; both teams keep same lineup

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and chose to bowl against Pakistan in Dambulla during the second semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup. Athapaththu’s strategy is to restrict Pakistan to 140 runs or less.

Both Sri Lanka and Pakistan have named unchanged XIs for the match.

Pakistan captain Nida Dar preferred to bat first, aiming to set a total over 145 as a strong target to defend in the knockout game.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have had different trajectories in T20I cricket this year. Sri Lanka, undefeated in the competition, has won 12 out of their 15 games, while Pakistan has managed only three wins out of their 11 matches, with two of those victories in this Asia Cup.

The winner of this match will face India in the final.

Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya.