Galle, Jul 16 (AP) Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat in the first cricket test against Pakistan on Sunday, the first game for both teams in the new cycle of World Test Championship matches.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is making a return to the Pakistan test side after being on the sidelines for 12 months with a right knee injury the 23-year-old sustained in Galle last year while fielding.

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It's the first of a two-test series, with the second set to begin on July 24 in Colombo.

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Teams:

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Sarfraz Ahmed, Agha Salman, Noman Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Umpires: Alex Wharf, England, and Rod Tucker, Australia.

TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney, New Zealand; Match Referee: David Boon, Australia. (AP) AM

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)