Pakistan vs South Africa: Potreas chose to bat after winning toss

PAARL: South Africa got off to a slow start on Tuesday after winning the toss in the first one-day international (ODI) of the three-match series against Pakistan.

The Proteas hope to take the lead in the ODI series too after winning the T20I series 2-0.

The first fixture is being played at Boland Bank Park. The second and third matches of the series will be played at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town and The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on December 19 and 22, respectively.

For the series, Pakistan’s squad has been bolstered with the return of pacer Naseem Shah, opening batter Abdullah Shafique and top-order batter Kamran Ghulam while wrist-spinner Sufyan Good and Usman Khan have received their maiden ODI call-ups.

Pakistan’s ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan believes this ODI series is to be vital in terms of Pakistan’s preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy. “With Allah’s help we will look to emulate our performances from the ODI series against Australia.”

Also read: Lala becomes Nana again: Afridi welcomes second grandchild

Regarding the appalling defeat in the T20 series, Rizwan said, “We couldn’t get the ideal results in the T20I series but I am really happy with some of the performances put in by our players in these conditions especially Saim’s batting was brilliant in both games. Our batting, pace and spin stocks are decent enough to challenge South Africa and win the series with the help of almighty.”

This will be Mohammad Rizwan’s third ODI series as skipper of the side as he has started his stint with back to back ODI series wins over Australia and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Aiden Markram, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Marco Jansen, Ottneil Baartman, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tony de Zorzi , and Tristan Stubbs