Pakistan opt to bowl against South Africa

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

The match marks the return of international cricket at the historic Iqbal Stadium after a gap of 17 years.

South Africa’s middle-order batter Dewald Brevis has been ruled out of the three-match One-Day International series due to a low-grade shoulder muscle strain.

The right-hander injured his shoulder during the third T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.

This is also the first match for Shaheen Shah Afridi as captain of the ODI side.

Both teams have faced each other 87 times in One Day Internationals. The Proteas have won 52 matches, while Pakistan has secured 34 victories. Notably, one match ended without a result.

Before the ODI series, the two teams competed in a three-match T20I series, which the Green Shirts won 2-1. They bounced back strongly after losing the opening match, winning the next two games to secure the series.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (capt), Sinethemba Qeshile, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams