Both sides are determined to show great performance in today’s clash at Paarl ground
PAARL: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Dec 17th, 2024) South Africa on Tuesday won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in the first One Day International (ODI).
Pakistan is determined to win the series against South Africa.
Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan captain, said, “This is a vital ODI series in terms of our preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy and with Allah’s help we will look to emulate our performances from the ODI series against Australia.
“We couldn’t get the ideal results in the T20I series but I am really happy with some of the performances put in by our players in these conditions especially Saim’s batting was brilliant in both games. Our batting, pace and spin stocks are decent enough to challenge South Africa and win the series with the help of almighty.
“I see a lot of potential in our ODI squad with players young and experienced both willing to put the best step forward, which makes us an exciting prospect as a one-day side not just going into this series but also in the home tri-nation series and the blockbuster white-ball mega event at home,".
South Africa had won the T20I series 2-0 after the third T20I was washed out on 14 December. The ODI series holds a lot of significance for both the teams as they look to fine tune their preparations for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in February and March 2025 in Pakistan.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk/capt), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed
South Africa: 1 Tony de Zorzi, 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram (capt), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman