Asia Cup: Afghanistan win toss against Pakistan, opt to bowl

FATULLAH (BANGLADESH): Afghanistan have won the toss and decided to bowl first against Pakistan in the third game of Asia Cup, 2014 being played at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Fatullah, ARY News reported.

This is the first game for Afghanistan in the 5-nation tournament. Pakistan have made one change in their side by inducting all-rounder Anwar Ali, in place of fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti.                        

Speaking after a toss, Afghanistan Captain Mohammad Nabi said, "First time playing in the Asia Cup and it's a big experience for us and we hope to perform well. We've been playing together for the past seven years so we feel good about this game"

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said: “We don't mind batting first. One change, Bilawal Bhatti sits out for Anwar Ali.  "We threw our wickets at the end in the last game, everyone knew that. We won't make that mistake again. We can still fancy batting first with the ball keeping low and moving around in the second innings sometimes"

Pakistan had lost their first game against Sri Lanka by 12 runs while chasing down a target of 297 on February 25 at the same venue.

Pakistan XI 1 Sharjeel Khan, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Sohaib Maqsood, 5 Misbah, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan

Afghanistan XI: 1 Mohammad Shahzad, 2 Noor Ali Zadran, 3 Asghar Stanikzai, 4 Nawroz Mangal, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Samiullah Shenwari, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Mirwais Ashraf, 9 Hamza Hotak, 10 Dawlat Zadran, 11 Shapoor Zadran