Perera, Ayodhya in as Sri Lanka bowl against Pakistan

Sri Lanka won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat in the Asia Cup semi-final in Dubai, as they seek to make it to successive final appearances in the tournament.

Of the 13 games hosted in Dubai across this tournament, the team batting first has won nine, but Sri Lanka will take confidence from their successful chase last time at the same venue against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka have left out batter Vishmi Gunaratne and seamer Chethana Vimukthi, with batter Hasini Perera and slinging seamer Mithali Ayodhya drafted in. Pakistan have named an unchanged side from the one that brushed aside Hong Kong in their final group game.

The pitches in Dubai have not been particularly conducive to run-scoring, with only four scores above 140 across the tournament. Pakistan however will take confidence in being responsible for one of those efforts, albeit against Hong Kong.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan are familiar foes with Sri Lanka coming away 2-1 winners in a series last month. Sri Lanka lead the recent head-to-head 3-2.

Pakistan: 1 Muneeba Ali (wk), 2 Shawaal Zulfiqar, 3 Gull Feroza, 4 Ayesha Zafar, 5 Sadaf Shamas, 6 Fatima Sana (capt), 7 Eyman Fatima, 8 Umm-e-Hani, 9 Tuba Hassan, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Sadia Iqbal

Sri Lanka: 1 Imesha Dulani, 2 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 3 Sanjana Kavindi, 4 Harsthitha Samarawickrama, 5 Hasini Perera, 6 Kavisha Dilhari, 7 Nilakshika Silva, 8 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 9 Sugandika Kumari, 10 Chamudi Praboda, 11 Mithali Ayodhya