South Africa win toss, elect to field against Pakistan in pace-heavy test match   

South Africa won the toss and elected to field in the first test against Pakistan on Thursday as the home team aimed to seal its place in the final of World Test Championship (WTC).

Both teams packed their playing XIs with four fast bowlers each and didn’t include a specialist spinner for the Boxing Day test on a SuperSport Park wicket where pace has dominated over the last six years.

South Africa gave a test debut to pace bowler Corbin Bosch at his home ground, who will team up with seasoned fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen with Dane Paterson the fourth fast bowling option.

South Africa, which leads the WTC points table, needs a win in one of the two test matches against Pakistan to guarantee place in next June’s final at Lord’s.

Seventh-place Pakistan also took a lead from the home team and included four fast bowlers — Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas and Aamer Jamal.

Abbas made a comeback to test cricket after more than three years while Naseem returned after missing out the last two home tests against England in October.

Injury-prone Shahzad also missed out three home test matches against England, but got the nod ahead of left-arm pace bowler Mir Hamza.

Ace batter Babar Azam, struggling in red-ball cricket, will bat at No. 3 after he was controversially dropped from the last two test matches against England for his indifferent batting form.

Lineups:

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas.

South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, Corbin Bosch. (AP)