CHENNAI, India (AP) — Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat in his team's must-win game against high-flying South Africa at the Cricket World Cup on Friday.
Red-hot South Africa has eight points from four wins in five games thanks to aggressive hitting by its top six batters.
Led by Quinton de Kock’s three centuries, South Africa has slipped just once when the Netherlands recorded a stunning 38-run win at Dharamsala – the only time the Proteas have been chased in the tournament.
Captain Temba Bavuma returns to lead the side after missing massive wins against Bangladesh and England, replacing Reeza Hendricks in the batting order.
Bavuma said he would have definitely batted first had he won the toss and hoped his team will keep the momentum going with its “inspirational performances.”
South Africa brought in left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and also included Lungi Ngidi while leaving out pace bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lizaad Williams. Rabada missed out as a precautionary measure due to a lower back spasm.
With four points from five matches, Pakistan has plenty of work to do after suffering three successive losses, including a shocking eight-wicket defeat against Afghanistan in its last match.
While pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf are yet to fire, its only impressive pacer Hasan Ali was ruled out of Friday’s game because of fever and Mohammad Wasim was given his World Cup debut.
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz also returned to the side after being left out following Pakistan's loss to archrival India and legspinner Usama Mir was dropped after two below-par games.
Opening batter Fakhar Zaman is yet to recover from a knee injury and misses his fifth straight game as Pakistan has to persist with out of form left-hander opener Imam-ul-Haq.
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Line-ups:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, , Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
