South Africa opt to bowl first against Pakistan in secondi ODI

South Africa Thursday elected to field first against Pakistan after winning the toss in the second One-Day International (ODI) of the three-match series at Cape Town.

Thanks to a brilliant ton by opener Saim Ayub and an incredible all round performance with bat and an ball by man of the match Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan drew the first blood in the series to go one up.

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma is fit again and wanted to be the side chasing this time around. South Africa have made four changes, with Bavuma back, Kwena Maphaka making his debut, and Bjorn Fortuin straight into the XI. Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Ottneil Baartman, Kagiso Rabada are the players to sit this one out.

Pakistan, meanwhile, are unchanged after their victory in the first game

Pakistan and South Africa have played a total of 84 ODI matches. Of these, Pakistan won 31, while South Africa claimed victories 52 times. One match ended without results.

Pakistan will carry forward their winning momentum after clinching back-to-back ODI series victories against Australia and Zimbabwe and are eyeing their third consecutive ODI series win.

Similarly, South Africa are also riding a winning momentum, having triumphed in their previous series against Ireland 2-1.