ICC World Cup: Pakistan win toss, opt to bat against South Africa

Pakistan face an uphill task on the back of their string of losses as they go up against South Africa who have looked threatening throughout their World Cup campaign and remain firmly in the race for the top prize.

Chennai: Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa in their must-win World Cup clash here on Friday.

Pakistan, who are coming off defeats in their last three games, need to win all their remaining fixtures and also hope for favourable results in order to remain in the semifinal race.

The 1992 champions have made a couple of changes with Waseem Jr and Mohammad Nawaz replacing Hasan Ali and Usama Mir.

Skipper Temba Bavuma is back for South Africa after missing a couple of games while Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi have also been included in the playing XI.

Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who has been ruled out as a precautionary measure due to a lower back spasm, Reeza Hendricks and Lizaad Williams miss out.

Teams:

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.