KARACHI: Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat in the second day-night match against Sri Lanka in Karachi on Monday.
The city has not hosted a one-day international since 2009 when Sri Lanka played two back-to-back matches at the National Stadium.
Teams have been reluctant to visit the cricket-mad country since a deadly militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore that year.
The first match was rained off without play, while the third and final match will be staged in Karachi on Wednesday.
The two teams will also play three Twenty20 internationals in Lahore next month.
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz.
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Lahiru Kumara
Umpires: Michael Gough (ENG) and Shozaib Raza (PAK)
TV umpires: Joel Wilson (WIS)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Pakistan bats in second one-day international
Pakistan bats in second one-day international
- Karachi has not hosted a one-day international since 2009
- Teams have been reluctant to visit Pakistan because of security concerns
Pakistan slashes power tariff for industries by Rs4.4 per unit to spur growth
- The development comes as Pakistan navigates a long path to economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF program
- The reduction in electricity tariffs will allow exporters to offer more competitive prices, increase profits margins
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced a Rs4.4 cut electricity tariffs for industrial consumers, saying the move is aimed at lowering production costs and spurring economic activity in Pakistan.
Sharif made the announcement while addressing businessmen and exporters at a ceremony in Islamabad, at which he presented awards to business figures who made significant contributions to the national economy.
He said the government would devise all future economic policies in consultation with the business community and there was no alternative to export-driven economic growth.
“Four rupees and four paisas per unit are being reduced in electricity tariffs for industry,” the prime minister announced at the ceremony.
“If it were up to me, I would reduce it by another 10 rupees, but my hands are tied.”
The development comes as Pakistan, which has long struggled with boom-bust cycles, seeks to boost foreign investment and increase exports, navigating a long path to economic recovery under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
The reduction in electricity tariffs for industrial consumers is expected to lower production costs that will allow exporters to offer more competitive prices in international markets, increase profit margins and encourage higher capacity utilization at factories.
The prime minister announced lowering wheeling charges for industry by Rs9 per unit, noting the country’s economy had stabilized, inflation had come down to single digits and the policy rate stood at 10.5 percent.
In Pakistan, wheeling charges are fees paid by electricity consumers and generators to use the national grid’s transmission and distribution network to move electricity from suppliers to end-users under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contracts Market (CTBCM).
“I think this should help you sell your power to neighboring industries,” he told businesspersons at the event.
