After winning the toss, host South Africa decides to bowl first against Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test.

On the first day of the first test at Centurion on Thursday, South Africa won the toss and put Pakistan in the batting order in an attempt to gain early ground with a full-on pace assault.

South Africa needs to win at least one test in the two-test series against Pakistan in order to qualify for the World Test Championship final the following year.

After winning the toss, South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma stated, “It was a difficult decision to make, but we’d like to have a go with the new ball.”

Traditionally, Centurion’s pitch gives bowlers lots of seam movement.

Due to a lengthy injury list among the nation’s fast bowlers, 30-year-old fast bowler Corbin Bosch will make his debut in an all-seamer bowling lineup on Tuesday, joining Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Dane Paterson in the home attack.

With Mohammad Abbas, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, and Khurram Shahzad in their bowling assault, Pakistan also chose a team without a specialist spinner.

Naseem returns after being benched for the final two tests against England in October, while Abbas plays his first test in three years. Shahzad missed that three-test series due to an injury.

“We’ve used the seam attack the previous two times we’ve played at Centurion, and we’ve had some success. “The spinners are not at all favored by the pitch,” Bavuma stated.

According to Pakistan skipper Shan Masood, the conditions are favorable for seamers. However, you get a lot of value for your shots, so it’s important to choose the appropriate balls and get a respectable first innings total.

Masood and Saim Ayub will begin the batting when Babar Azam, who was also benched for the final two tests against England at home in October, returns.

In their One Day International series last week, Pakistan crushed South Africa 3-0, led by two hundreds from 22-year-old Ayub.

Teams: South Africa: David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper), Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, and Dane Paterson.

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Aamer Jamal, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saim Ayub, and Shan Masood (captain).