Pakistan Wins Toss, Elects To Field Vs SAfrica In 3rd T20

LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and put South Africa in to bat in their winner-takes-all third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.

Pakistan made three changes after South Africa won the second game by six wickets on Saturday to level the series 1-1.

Middle-order batsmen Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar Ahmed along with fast bowler Haris Rauf were dropped after below par performances in the first two games.

They were replaced by 32-year-old legspinner Zahid Mahmood, who will be playing his first Twenty20 international, fast bowler Hasan Ali and hard-hitting batsman Asif Ali.

Hasan made a stunning return to international cricket after two years out with injuries when he took 12 wickets in the preceding test series against the Proteas that Pakistan won 2-0.

The 29-year-old Asif played the last of his 25 Twenty20 internationals against Australia at Canberra in late 2019 and has been recalled to beef up Pakistans scoring rate in the middle overs.

Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin returned to the South Africa side in place of fast bowler Glenton Stuurman, who returned with expensive figures of 0-28 off his two overs in his debut Twenty20 on Saturday.

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Lineups:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Shaheen Afridi, Zahid Mahmood.

South Africa: Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks, Jon-Jon Smuts, Pite van Biljon, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin, Lutho Sipamla, Tabraiz Shamsi.

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