South Africa bat first in first test against Pakistan at the Wanderers

By Tristan Holme

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa’s Graeme Smith won the toss in his 100th test as captain and elected to bat first in the opening test against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Friday.

The match is Smith’s 99th in charge of South Africa, while he also captained a World XI against Australia in 2005.

The Proteas opted against an all-pace attack, deciding instead to field a dedicated spinner in left-armer Robin Peterson.

Pakistan included debutant batsman Nasir Jamshed and left-arm seamer Rahat Ali, who was preferred to the lanky fast bowler Mohammad Irfan.

With opening batsman Taufeeq Umar ruled out of the tour with a leg injury, Imran Farhat will move up the batting order to fill in for the first test.

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Lineups:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan.

03:40ET 01-02-13