Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka after rain forced the knockout Asia Cup contest to 45-overs-a-side on Thursday.

The match is effectively a semifinal with the winner to meet India in the final of the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the ODI World Cup starting in October.

The start of the match has been delayed by 75 minutes due to heavy rain in the afternoon and more expected in the evening.

Pakistan have included young pace bowler Zaman Khan in their line-up after injuries to premier quicks Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.

Naseem will fly back to Pakistan while Rauf is with the team after they suffered a 228-run loss to India.

Pakistan have made two changes in the side announced Wednesday with Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique coming in for Imam-ul-Haq, who has a back spasm, and Saud Shakeel, who has a fever.

Sri Lanka have made two changes to their team which lost their previous Super Four match to India by 41 runs. Kusal Perera and Pramod Madushan make the XI.

SRI LANKA: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Zaman Khan