Daijiworld Media Network

Sharjah, Oct 30 : Hello and welcome for the 5-match ODI series. The last time these two sides met in the UAE in 2010, South Africa won the series 3-2 and they will be looking forward to do something similar this time as well. After being comprehensivley beaten in the first Test earlier this month, the Proteas bounced back strongly and squared the Test series. However, the hosts have done well in the 50-over format and it is going to be a really tough series. We will bring you the toss and more in a short while.

South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat

Misbah: 'We would have batted first as well, the wicket looks very dry and Sharjah is always a great venue to play. The wicket will assist the spinners, hopefully we will restrict them to a decent total. We are playing with 3 seamers, Afridi is back in the side, Ajmal is also playing.'

AB de Villiers: 'We will bat first. It looks a good wicket, we will try to bat well and put Pakistan under pressure with runs on the board. We are told that 230-240 will be good on this surface batting first. Pakistan are a really good side and we are looking forward to this challenge. Imran Tahir is playing and Graeme Smith is in as well. Vernon Philander misses out.'

Teams:

South Africa (Playing XI): Colin Ingram, Graeme Smith, Jean-Paul Duminy, AB de Villiers(w/c), Faf du
Plessis, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir

Pakistan (Playing XI): Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Umar Amin, Umar Akmal(w), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan

South Africa will be without the services of Hashim Amla who has gone home for the birth of his second child. Dale Steyn also will miss the game as he has been rested.

Pakistan were successful in their last two tours to West Indies and Zimbabwe while South Africa lost their last bilateral series to Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.