Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and chose to bat against Bangladesh in their last league match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Lord’s, London on Friday.
Pakistan are unchanged, whereas for Bangladesh, Mahmudullah and Mehidy Hasan are in for Sabbir Rahman and Rubel Hossain.
“We will bat first. Only chance we have is to bat first and put a big total on the board. So we will try our best. We are going with the same team, although we know that we need quick and big runs. It’s a long tournament and one game is different from the others. Unfortunate to be in this position but we will try our best,” said Sarfaraz Ahmed after winning the toss.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said: “I’d love to bat first on this wicket as it’s a used wicket. Have to bowl well and restrict them to a chaseable total. Mahmudullah and Mehidy (Hasan) are in for Sabbir (Rahman) and Rubel (Hossain). We’ve been playing well against them but this is a fresh game and they’re a good side. They’re starting to take off in terms of momentum and we need to play well. Yes, it will be a good milestone for us if we manage to win four games in the World Cup. It is my final World Cup game and I will try my best.”
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper/captain), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Mustafizur Rahman