South Africa elect to bat against Pakistan

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SHARJAH: South African captain AB de Villiers won the toss and decided to bat in the first of five one-day internationals against Pakistan in Sharjah on Wednesday. The Proteas are without their frontline paceman Dale Steyn, who has returned home for a rest, and Hashim Amla, who has also returned home for the birth of his child.

Steyn will return for the third one-day match in Abu Dhabi on November 6.

South Africa included leg-spinner Imran Tahir who took eight wickets in the second Test in Dubai, which the Proteas won to square the two-match series 1-1.

Pakistan included three pacemen in Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Tanveer.

The remaining one-day matches will be played in Dubai (November 1), Abu Dhabi (November 8) and Sharjah (November 11).

Teams:

South Africa: Colin Ingram, Graeme Smith, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers (captain), Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq

(captain), Umar Amin, Umar Akmal?, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan

Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG) and Shozab Raza (PAK), TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)

ICC match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI) (GNN) (AFP) (Yoogle)