Dale Steyn is pumped up © AFP
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa
Sarfraz Ahmed called heads, the coin landed his way, and Pakistan will bat first in the Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion. With Dale Steyn likely to open the bowling for South Africa, he could claim South Africa’s Test bowling record early in the Test, and will target an inexperienced top order: just three of Pakistan’s squad members have played Test cricket in South Africa.
The South Africans didn’t ask groundsman Bryan Bloy to prepare a specific pitch for this game, but the track is grassy, if a little soft underfoot. At the toss, Faf du Plessis reckoned the pitch could be a little on the slow side, at least in the first hour, while Shaun Pollock – the man whose record Steyn has in his sights – suggested in his pitch report that the pitch could be sluggish, with tennis ball bounce, on the first day before it quickens up during the Test.
Steyn will operate alongside Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier with the ball early on, while in the top order Temba Bavuma passed a late fitness Test and will play, though it is as yet unclear if the hamstring niggle from which he has just recovered could hamper his usually electric fielding.
Pakistan were also sweating on the fitness of some of their players coming into this game, and while it had already been confirmed that Mohammad Abbas and Shadab Khan would not play, Fakhar Zaman has progressed back to fitness and will open the batting with Imam-ul-Haq. Haris Sohail was a late exclusion from the line-up after picking up a minor injury, and he has been replaced in the playing XI by Shan Masood.
South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Theunis de Bruyn, 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Duanne Olivier
Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Shan Masood, 4 Azhar Ali, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 8 Mohammad Amir, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Afridi
Liam Brickhill is a freelance journalist based in Cape Town
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo