Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan, 3rd Test: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

With the series tied 1-1, it’s all to play for when Sri Lanka and Pakistan meet in the final Test in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, on Friday.

Date: Fri. July 3 - Tue. July 7

Time: 10 a.m. local (04:30 a.m. GMT)

Venue: Galle International Stadium

Live stream and TV info: Ten Cricket and PTV Sports (Pakistan), Rupavahini Corporation (Sri Lanka)

Weather: As has been the case for most of this series, rain and thunderstorms are forecast throughout the Test, according to AccuWeather.com. 

Overview

This series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is turning out to have all the right bits and pieces to make it really memorable. There was Pakistan's surprise victory in the first Test and Sri Lanka's comeback in the second. Now, there is the absence of key players in the deciding Test starting on Friday.

There will be no Kumar Sangakkara for the final Test, the Sri Lankan stalwart made himself unavailable due to commitments with English county Surrey. He will be replaced with Upul Tharanga, who last played for Sri Lanka against Pakistan last year. Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez will also be missing in action as he's off to go have his bowling action tested after he was reported for a suspect action in the first Test in Galle.

To add to the visitor's woes, Wahab Riaz has also been ruled out of the final Test after sustaining an injury. Babar Azam and Rahat Ali have been drafted in as replacements. Pakistan are clearly the side who will be more affected by all the team news. Considering their penchant for collapsing, stability is key. 

However, the bad news (or good news, depending how you look at it ) is that Sri Lanka have never won a Test at Pallekele, and they’ve never lost a Test there either. There have been just three Tests at this ground, and they have all been draws.

Pakistan have played one Test at Pallekele before, back in July 2012, and they drew that match, despite the fact that their batting lineup put in a woeful performance in the first innings.

With two sides keen to get a positive result and both sides being slapped with some unplanned changes, that draw column on the results list might very well change come next week.

Key players

Sri Lanka

Angelo Mathews has proven himself to be a useful batsman and an astute captain in this series. He's chipped in with the ball, too, but needs to get a big score with the bat, and a flat track in Pallekele might just be the place to do it.

Pakistan

Yasir Shah has been phenomenal in this series. He's taken an astonishing 17 wickets at an average of just 18.00 and an economy rate of 2.71. Shah has very quickly turned into an indispensable player for Pakistan, and his skills will really be put to the Test on a flatter track.  

Squads

Sri Lanka

Kusal Perera, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, T Kaushal, Jehan Mubarak, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Dinesh Chandimal, Kumar Sangakkara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Silva, Dushmantha Chameera

Pakistan

Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Imran Khan, Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Sarfraz Ahmed, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez