Afghanistan wins toss, elects to field in Asia Cup

Associated Press

FATULLAH, Bangladesh (AP) — Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and elected to bowl first against Pakistan in his country's maiden Asia Cup appearance on Thursday.

Pakistan, which lost a high-scoring gamer against Sri Lanka by 12 runs on Tuesday, brought in fast bowler Anwar Ali in place of Bilawal Bhatti, who bowled only four overs in that game.

Afghanistan will be looking to its skipper Nabi, who has performed well in the current Bangladesh domestic season, scoring 223 runs in five matches, including a century.

"We have been playing together for the past seven years and we feel good about this game," Nabi said at the toss.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was eager to make up for the opening loss, when his team appeared set to chase down a big target but lost the last six wickets for 42 runs.

"We won't make that mistake again," Misbah said.

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Lineups:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan.

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Hamza Hotak, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran.