Pakistan win toss, elect to bat first in opening Test against South Africa
South Africa dominate Test head-to-head against Pakistan with 17-6 record
LAHORE: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the opening Test of the two-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan.
South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Sen Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada and Simon Harmer.
Head to Head:
Pakistan and South Africa have met 30 times in Test cricket, with South Africa dominating the record — winning 17 matches compared to Pakistan’s six, while seven have ended in draws.
- Matches played: 30
- Pakistan won: 6
- South Africa won: 17
- Drawn: 7
Form Guide:
Both teams are set to kick off their World Test Championship (WTC) campaigns, aiming to begin with a strong performance.
Pakistan, who drew their last home Test series 1-1 against the West Indies in January, will look to start their campaign on a high.
Meanwhile, the defending champions, South Africa, who recently dominated Zimbabwe in a two-match Test series — although it wasn’t part of their WTC campaign — will aim to continue their momentum, having previously whitewashed Pakistan 2-0 on home soil in 2024.
Pakistan: L, W, L, L, W (most recent first)
South Africa: W, W, W, W, W
Comments