South Africa win toss, opt to bowl first against Pakistan

South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first Test match of a two-match series against Pakistan at SuperSport Park, Centurion, on Thursday.

South Africa are chasing a place in next year’s World Test Championship final but, in order to do so, they must win at least one Test in the series against Pakistan.

“It was a tricky decision to make but we’d like to have a go with the new ball,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma after winning the toss.

The pitch at Centurion traditionally offers plenty of seam movement for the bowlers.

The home side named their team on Tuesday with 30-year-old fast bowler Corbin Bosch to debut in an all-seamer bowling line-up, joining Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Dane Paterson in the home attack as he gets an opportunity because of a long injury list among the country’s fast bowlers.

Pakistan also selected a side without a specialist spinner, with Mohammad Abbas, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah and Khurram Shahzad in their bowling attack.

Abbas plays his first Test in three years while Naseem is back after being dropped for the last two tests against England in October. Shahzad was injured for that three-Test series.

“The last couple of times we’ve played at Centurion, we’ve gone with the seam attack and we’ve seen some success. The pitch does not favour the spinners at all,” said Bavuma.

“Conditions favour the seamers,” added Pakistan captain Shan Masood, “but you get a lot of value for your shots so it’s about picking the right balls and getting a decent first innings score on the board.”

Babar Azam, also dropped for the last two Tests against England at home in October, returns which means Masood will open the batting alongside Saim Ayub.

The 22-year-old Ayub scored two centuries as Pakistan thrashed South Africa 3-0 in their One Day International series last week.

Pakistan XI: Shan Masood (capt), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas

South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, Corbin Bosch

Schedule of matches:

First Test — Dec 26 to Dec 30 at the SuperSport Park, Centurion

Second Test — Jan 3 to Jan 7 at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town 

---

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.