Dubai, Sep 15 (IANS) Maheesh Theekshana has come in for Matheesha Pathirana as Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first against Hong Kong in their 2025 Men’s T20 Asia Cup Group B game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

After registering a dominant win over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka will look to inch closer to a Super Four berth with a win over Hong Kong. “Just looks decent. We want to chase. Really happy with the performance.”

“Almost perfect game for us (against Bangladesh). Just want to keep going. We cant underestimate any team specially in the shorter formats. We need to do the basics right,” said Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka.

On the other hand, Hong Kong, despite suffering back-to-back defeats, showed marked improvement in their performance against Bangladesh after a heavy loss to Afghanistan. With Super Four qualification out of reach, they will be keen to end their campaign on a positive note.

Skipper Yasir Murtaza said Kalhan Challu goes out and Shahid Wasif comes into the playing eleven. “To be honest, we did well against Bangladesh. We talk about winning but it is important to have a good work ethic. Our coach says we need to take care of the work ethic, results will take care of themselves. We have a few things to work on,” he said.

The surface for Monday’s clash is a fresh pitch with a mix of green tinge and dryness underneath, which means it can be a potentially tricky challenge for batters. Broadcaster Russel Arnold felt the decent grass cover could produce tennis-ball bounce and a two-paced nature.

He added that the pitch is unlikely to change significantly over the course of the 40 overs, with conditions expected to improve slightly for batting later in the evening skies.

Playing XIs

Hong Kong: Zeeshan Ali (wk), Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Nizakat Khan, Shahid Wasif, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza (c), Aizaz Khan, Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, and Ehsan Khan

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, and Nuwan Thushara

–IANS

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