Rain threat looms large again

Match facts

Saturday, June 16
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)

	Pakistan's batting has been shaky recently © AFP  Enlarge
Related Links Numbers Game : Pakistan's bowlers bail out their batsmen Matches: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (RPS) Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka Teams: Pakistan | Sri Lanka

Big Picture

There was a time when winning the toss did more for a side's chances at the R Premadasa Stadium than its performance in a day-night match did. Batting under lights at the erstwhile Khettarama ground was so difficult that teams invariably chose to bat, and invariably won. And then came the 2011 World Cup. The playing square was relaid. New floodlights were installed. And the ghost of the Premadasa chase was laid to rest. With the white ball not doing as much at night now, the last five ODIs at the ground have been won by the side batting second. With the final two games of this ODI series to be played here, it evens things out further for these two well-matched sides.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have alternated between taking punches and delivering them. They did that in the T20I series, which was tied 1-1. They split the first two games in the five-match ODI series as well, before rain decided to have its share in the third. More of it is forecast for tomorrow, but with a reserve day in place now, it would take a lot of water over two days to deny us a result.

On paper, Sri Lanka's top eight look as dangerous and as powerful as any top eight ever in ODI cricket. The three senior batsmen, the explosive Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, the fast-maturing Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal. Upul Tharanga is only 27, but is already closing in on 5000 ODI runs. Sri Lanka's major headache these days is to figure out the batting order.

Pakistan's batsmen have wobbled so much recently that their bowlers, especially the three quality limited-overs spinners, have had to work harder to deliver wins. Misbah-ul-Haq opted for the extra batsman, Asad Shafiq, in the third ODI but the wash-out denied him the opportunity to see whether the move would work.

As the series nears its end, both sides would want to start delivering more punches than they take.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLLLL (Completed games, most recent first)
Pakistan LWWLW

Watch out for...

Not only have the Pakistan batsmen struggled to make the big runs of late, they have also struggled to make them fast enough. There has been a certain tentativeness in the line-up which has had them sweating even in small chases. While it makes games exciting, the batting requires more stability as well as firepower. Both are available; only lying dormant at the moment.

Not that it is a big concern right now, but Dinesh Chandimal has a top-score of 32 from his past seven ODI innings. In his short career, he has already impressed in England, South Africa and Australia, but his home average is yet to go past ten. He does tend to get tied down in sluggish conditions. Which is how they will be in Sri Lanka as long as he plays, and thereafter.

Team news

There was word that Mohammad Hafeez had injured himself during training, but he has been declared fit for tomorrow. Mohammad Sami is recovering as well from his thumb injury. The question is, will Pakistan abandon Asad Shafiq for Sami, if he is passed fit to play? Unlikely.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal

Sajeewa Weerakoon, the 34-year old left-arm spinner, had a watery international debut on Wednesday. No reason why he shouldn't get a second game tomorrow.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Upul Tharanga, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Sajeewa Weerakoon

Stats and trivia

• Four of the ten batsmen with the lowest ODI strike-rates in the last two years are Pakistani. (Min. 800 balls faced).
• Younis Khan averages 20.75 this year in ODIs at a strike-rate of 89.72. His career figures are 32.33 at 75.64

Quotes

"If you take the last few months, our trend has been to do very well in one game and do badly in the other game. I think we need to stop that. As a team we need to work towards that. Consistency is a very big factor. If we play like we played the last game we will be a top team."
Tillakaratne Dilshan says Sri Lanka need to stop blowing hot and cold

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Herath returns, Sri Lanka bat

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mahela Jayawardene won the toss, and keeping with the pattern in the few matches so far in the tour, opted to bat. The pitch at Hambantota produced two low-scoring Twenty20 games, but the surface at Pallekele is expected to be more batsman-friendly.

Sri Lanka fielded a strong line-up, bringing in the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was rested for the Asia Cup in March. Their seam-heavy attack includes the allrounders Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews. Lasith Malinga returned after missing the second Twenty20.

Pakistan decided not to play Imran Farhat, thereby promoting Azhar Ali as opener. Sohail Tanvir, who was retained after his sound performances in the Twenty20s, was picked to lend more variety to Pakistan's seam line-up, which also included the returning Mohammad Sami. The visitors went in with six specialist seamers, including two spin-allrounders.

Sri Lanka began the series needing to reverse their recent poor record against Pakistan, which included just two wins in the last ten encounters.

Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lasith Malinga

Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Mohammad Sami

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Gayle formally recalled to West Indies squad

Chris Gayle's 15-month international exile is over after he was formally recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the forthcoming series against England, starting in Southampton on June 16.

In keeping with the fractious and drawn out nature of the dispute that kept Gayle out of the team, his recall was confirmed after a meeting of more political than selection nature in St Vincent. Gayle and his agent Michael Hall spoke with an array of political and cricket figures including the island's prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Baldwin Spencer, WICB president Julian Hunte, WICB director Elson Crick and the WICB's legal officer Alanna Medford.

The meeting, devised to smooth over any "residual matters" between Gayle and the WICB, was followed by the announcement of the squad for the limited-overs segment of the England tour, with Gayle returning to the ranks for the first time since the 2011 World Cup.

West Indies ODI squad Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine

"Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board recently met by teleconference and are pleased that consistent with his previous commitment Mr Chris Gayle has made himself available for selection to the West Indies team," a WICB statement had said of the meeting. "The board believes that Mr Gayle's stated commitment to West Indies cricket will be an asset to the team and looks forward to his contributions in that regard."

Gayle's recall was first mooted during West Indies' earlier home series against Australia, when he met with WICB officials to repair a relationship that had deteriorated around the emergence of Twenty20 and the rise of the Indian Premier League. It then dissolved entirely when the former captain criticised the coach Ottis Gibson and the WICB during a radio interview last year.

In England the mood for Gayle's return has gathered strength, pushed along by the words of Kevin Pietersen, who said it would be "brilliant for the game" if he was recalled, while the former West Indies fast bowler and widely respected commentator Michael Holding effectively challenged the WICB to stop delaying Gayle's rehabilitation as an international player.

Lendl Simmons is the other notable recall to the ODI team after he missed the home matches against Australia. Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell also return to the team for limited-overs matches after completing their IPL duties.

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here

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