Sri Lanka bat against Pakistan in first Test

GALLE: Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against Pakistan at the Galle International Stadium on Friday.

The hosts were without frontline seamer Chanaka Welegedara, who woke up with a sore shoulder and was replaced by Nuwan Pradeep.

Mohammad Hafeez was leading Pakistan for the first time in Test cricket after Misbah-ul Haq was handed a one-match ban for his team's slow over-rate in Monday's final one-day international.

The tourists awarded a Test cap to 32-year-old middle-order batsman Mohammad Ayub, who is already a veteran of 93 first-class matches.

Pakistan picked two seamers, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan, to complement spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman on a wicket that looks full of runs.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Mohammad Ayub, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan. 12th man: Mohammad Sami.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep. 12th man: Jeevan Mendis.