Daijiworld Media Network

Centurion, Feb 22: The series has been lost but there is a lot of pride to play for Pakistan. They are stacked against the odds though, Centurion is a sort of fortress for the hosts, they have had a great season at home and would like to finish on a high while the visitors will be keen to avoid a whitewash. Hello, and a warm welcome to one and all to Day 1 of the 3rd and final Test.

South Africa have won the toss and elected to bat.

Misbah: 'We are happy to bowl first. We need to keep our focus, we lost at at crucial moments in Cape Town. The performances are getting better. We have made three changes, Jamshed is out and Farhat comes in. Gul is sick and Tanvir has been left out. Ehsan Adil debuts and Rahat Ali comes back into the team.'

Smith: 'We will bat first, might be the right decision. There will be some help for the seamers early, we need to play the new ball well. It might take some spin as the match wears on. Pakistan played very well on the first two days of the Cape Town Test but we fought back well. Kallis has done his calf during an optional practise and is out, Kyle Abbot debuts. Rory is in for Morne.'

Early injury news: Jacques Kallis is injured and that means a debut for Kyle Abbot. Morne Morkel has already been replaced by Rory Klienveldt.

Teams:

Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil

South Africa (Playing XI): Graeme Smith(c), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers(w), Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Kyle Abbott, Rory Kleinveldt, Dale Steyn

Pitch Report: 'Shaun Pollock feels that there is a nice covering of grass on the pitch but there are some bare patches as well. The pitch is likely to be two paced, it might be slow to start off. It looks like a bowl first track.'