Hussain passed fit but loses toss

Nasser Hussain was passed fit to play in the second one-day international against Pakistan at Lahore today.

The England captain had turned his left ankle when batting in the first match at Karachi but after intensive ice-pack treatment and rest, he came through a thorough practice session yesterday and suffered no stiffness this morning.

He named an unchanged side from the one that beat Pakistan by five wickets on Tuesday and in front of a 45,000 crowd in the Colonel Gaddafi Stadium went on to lose the toss, for the second time in two matches and was put into bat by Pakistan skipper Moin Khan.

The match started more than two hours earlier than scheduled after officials became concerned at the effects of heavy dew that caused so many disruptions on Tuesday.

All-rounder Azhar Mahmood returned to replace Waqar Younis for Pakistan after he had missed the opening match with a hand injury sustained in training.

Opener Imran Nazir was also overlooked to allow the return of big-hitting Shahid Afridi, who was not selected in Karachi having got married the day before.