England win toss, elect to bat first in final Test against Pakistan

RAWALPINDI: England on Thursday won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan in the decisive third Test of the series, which is currently tied 1-1.

Both teams have gone into the match with a lone seamer in what is expected to be a spin-friendly pitch at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

England have brought in Rehan Ahmed as a third spinner, while Gus Atkinson was recalled as the tourists continued to rotate their pacers.

“We’ll have to wait and see until a bit of cricket and some traffic has gone over it,” said England captain Ben Stokes at the toss.

“But it looks a really good wicket. It’s another challenge we’re presented with and we’ll wait and see,” he added.

Pakistan have fielded the same 11 who secured the series-levelling victory in the second test in Multan.

Green Shirts’ captain Shan Masood was reluctant to make a prediction about the pitch.

“The important thing is to see the situation, see what you’re under and respond,” he said.

“The preparation has been a bit different, until both teams have batted we’ll keep our opinions to ourself,” remarked Masood.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Muhammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jack Leach, Shaoib Bashir