South Africa wins first toss on tour to Pakistan, elects to bat in series-deciding ODI

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FAISALABAD, Pakistan (AP) — South Africa won its first toss on the tour of Pakistan and elected to bat in the series-deciding third and final ODI on Saturday.

The series is locked 1-1 after Pakistan won the first game narrowly by two wickets and South Africa bounced back with the help of Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten century to win the second game by eight wickets.

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf returned after serving two-match ban for violating ICC code of conduct during the Asia Cup in late September and replaced Naseem Shah. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who was surprisingly left out from the second match, made his way back into the playing XI in place of Mohammad Wasim.

South Africa awarded an ODI debut to 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Rubin Hermann in place of injured Sinethemba Qeshile. The Proteas went with an extra seam option and brought back Lungi Ngidi as left-arm spinner George Linde missed out.

South Africa didn’t win a toss in a two-match drawn test series in Pakistan. The Proteas also lost all the five tosses in the white-ball series before at last calling it correctly in the final game of the tour on Saturday.

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Lineups:

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (captain), Rubin Hermann, Donovan Ferreira, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Nqabayomzi Peter, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket