Cricket-Pakistan win toss, bat first in Karachi test

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss and opted to bat in the second and final test against Sri Lanka at Karachi on Thursday. The two-match series, part of the World Test Championship, marks Pakistan's first tests on home soil since the 2009 militant attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore.

The weather-hit opening test at Rawalpindi ended in a draw. Both sides were forced into changes in the bowling department due to injury and illness.

Experienced leg-spinner Yasir Shah replaced fast bowler Usman Shinwari, who is down with fever, for the hosts. Sri Lanka included left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya in the side in place of injured fast bowler Kasun Rajitha, who suffered a left hamstring strain in the first test.

Teams Pakistan - Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

Sri Lanka - Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara