Afghanistan won the toss on Thursday and opted to bat against Pakistan in the second one-day international (ODI) of the three-match series played at Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

In the opening game of the series, hosted by Afghanistan in Sri Lanka due to security fears, Pakistan won the match by 142 runs.

Chasing a target of 202 runs, Afghanistan were dismissed for only 59 runs, their second-lowest score in ODIs, in 19.2 overs.

Ahead of the match today, Hashmatullah said that Afghanistan would try to make a comeback today.

“We will entre the field, keeping in mind a target of 260,” he said.

The Pakistan side skipper observed: “The wicket looks good for batting.” He added that the national side would try to bat to the best of its abilities during the game.

Playing XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Shahid Kamal, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf