Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs Zimbabwe

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first against Zimbabwe in the second match of the T20I tri-series in Rawalpindi. Zimbabwe had lost the tri-series opener to Pakistan on Tuesday.

Dasun Shanaka, standing in as captain for Charith Asalanka who has returned to Sri Lanka following the ODIs with an illness according to Sri Lanka Cricket, said the potential for dew later in the evening was the primary factor in their decision to chase.

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said that they would be looking to score as many runs as possible with this looking "much more like" a traditional Rawalpindi surface.

The wicket is expected to be much better for batting than the pitch used on Tuesday, with the ball likely to come on to the bat right through out the game.

In terms of team news, Bhanuka Rajapaksa is set to play his first T20I since January coming in for the absent Asalanka, while there's also a debut for seamer Eshan Malinga. Wanindu Hasaranga meanwhile has been passed fit to play, which means Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, who had been flown down as a potential replacement, remains on the bench. Zimbabwe have named an unchanged XI.

Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Brendan Taylor (wk), 4 Ryan Burl, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Tony Munyonga, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Tinotenda Maposa, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Graeme Cremer

Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 5 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 6 Kamindu Mendis, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Dushmantha Chameera, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Eshan Malinga