KARACHI: South Africa on Wednesday opted to bat first after winning the toss in the all-important clash against Pakistan with both teams eyeing a place in the final of the tri-series against New Zealand.
Led by Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan have made two changes to their lineup as Mohammad Hasnain and Saud Shakeel replaced injured Haris Rauf and middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam, respectively.
The match is essentially a must-win game for both sides after their respective loss against New Zealand in the tri-series.
In the series opener, Pakistan suffered a defeat against the Black Caps after failing to chase the 331-run target and were bowled out in 47.5 overs.
Meanwhile, the Proteas too were beaten by New Zealand with the latter successfully chasing down a 305-run target for the loss of four wickets and eight balls to spare.
Facing each other today, Pakistan and South Africa recently locked horns in a three-match ODI series, where the green shirts inflicted a 3-0 clean sweep over the dominant hosts.
Furthermore, South Africa are on a five-match losing streak, while Pakistan have only one defeat in their last five outings.
The two teams have played a total of 86 ODI matches. Of these, the Green Shirts won 33, while the Proteas emerged victorious 52 times. One match ended in no result.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Tayyab Tahir, Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed.
South Africa: Matthew Breetzke, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.
