World Cup: Pakistan win toss and choose to bat first against South Africa

All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz and pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr have replaced the injured Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Usama Mir.

Pakistan’s lineup

1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Mohammad Wasim Jnr, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf

Due to rain early morning in Chennai, there were questions marks over the possibility of the match today. However, the good news is that chances of rain are low during the rest of the day which is why the match is unlikely to be affected.

According to The Weather Channel, cloudy weather is likely to persist throughout the day. There is only two percent chance of rain during the afternoon and four percent in the evening.

Pakistan, the 1992 champions, have hit a roadblock at the World Cup with their opening two wins followed by three one-sided defeats to arch-rivals India, Australia and then to neighbours Afghanistan.

South Africa, on the other hand, have shaken off a shock loss to the Netherlands and have four wins to put them in sight of the semi-finals.

Pakistan have won six of the last 10 meetings with South Africa including by 49 runs when they met at Lord’s in the 2019 World Cup.

South Africa have been making runs for fun at the World Cup — three times they have passed 350. They have also scored 137, 143 and 144 in the last 10 overs of three matches.