cricket stadium in Pakistan, used to have capacity of 65,250 spectators, until the redesigning of its enclosures reduced the capacity to 27,000. Cricket history International cricket history In both 1968 and 1977, Test matches played against England were affected by riots. In 1976 the first of three hat-tricks was taken at the stadium, by Peter Petherick of New Zealand against Pakistan on 9 October. The next was taken by Wasim Akram of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, 6 March 1999, and the third by Mohammad Sami of Pakistan against Sri Lanka. Pakistan has enjoyed some memorable moments on the ground, including a fifth-wicket stand of 281 between Javed Miandad and Asif Iqbal against New Zealand in 1976 and an innings and 324 run win against New Zealand in 2002. 2009 Sri Lankan team attack On 3 March 2009, the scheduled third day of second Test of 2008–09 Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked by armed militants at Liberty Roundabout, near Gaddafi Stadium. Eight Sri Lankan players were injured, including Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan team was air-lifted from Gaddafi Stadium to a nearby airbase, from where they were evacuated back to Sri Lanka. This event marked brought a halt to international cricket in Pakistan. Return of international cricket International cricket returned to Pakistan on 19 May 2015, when the Zimbabwe cricket team landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport to become the first Full Member nation to tour Pakistan since the attack. Pakistan won both ODI and T20I series comfortably. In August 2017, PCB along with ICC started to improve international cricket in Pakistan. With that, under heavy security, PCB planned World XI tour to Pakistan for three T20Is. In August 2017, Thilanga Sumathipala, president of Sri Lanka Cricket, said that he would like to play at least one of the three T20I matches in Lahore, Pakistan during October. In March 2009, the Sri Lanka cricket team were attacked by terrorists while travelling to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Since then, the only Test side to visit Pakistan has been Zimbabwe, when they toured during May 2015. Two of Sri Lanka's current team, Chamara Kapugedera and Suranga Lakmal were on the bus during the 2009 terrorist attack, and both could have been selected for the T20I squad for this series. In September 2017, the fixtures were confirmed, with the final T20I match