South Africa Playing 11 vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI, Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2024-25

Beleaguered South Africa will be desperately seeking a win when they take on Pakistan in the third and final ODI of the ongoing series.

The upcoming game is scheduled to take place on Sunday (December 22) at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

After already conceding the series, the Proteas will only have pride to play for in the third ODI. The hosts would be desperate to win the upcoming game in order to avoid getting whitewashed in their own backyard.

The Proteas lost the first game by 3 wickets before suffering an 81-run defeat in the second game. They were thoroughly outplayed by Pakistan in most of the departments during the second ODI.

Batting first, Pakistan set the Proteas a target of 330 runs. They were all out for 329 in 49.5 overs with Mohammad Rizwan (80), Babar Azam (73), and Kamran Ghulam (63) scoring fifties.

In reply, South Africa were all out for 248 runs in the 44th over. They were on 185/4 at one stage before David Miller's departure triggered a collapse. For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi took 4 wickets while Naseem Shah claimed 3.

With the Proteas looking to end the series on a winning note, we are taking a look at South Africa Playing 11 for the third ODI.

South Africa Playing 11 vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI, Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2024-25:

Openers: Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c)

The onus will be on openers Tony de Zorzi and captain Temba Bavuma to give the hosts a good start with the bat. After missing the first game, Bavuma replaced Ryan Rickelton in South Africa Playing 11 for the second game.

While Rickelton had scored 36 runs in the series-opener, Bavuma could score only 12 runs before being dismissed by Naseem Shah. On the other hand, de Zorzi got the starts in both games but could not convert them.

The left-handed batsman scored 33 runs in the opening ODI before scoring 34 runs in the second game. He will be eyeing a big score in the third ODI.

Middle-order and allrounders: Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen

Most of the Proteas' middle-order batsmen got the start with the bat in the previous game but failed to capitalize on it. Rassie van der Dussen scored 23 runs before being sent back by Salman Agah. Aiden Markram also got the start but failed to score big as he was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed for 21 runs.

For the second game in a row, Heinrich Klaasen was the pick of the batsmen from South Africa. After scoring 86 runs in the first ODI, the wicketkeeper-batsman scored 97 runs off just 74 balls in the second ODI.

David Miller scored 29 runs in the second ODI. Marco Jansen could score only 3 runs but had a decent outing with the ball. While he picked up 3 wickets, he ended up conceding 71 runs in his 10 overs.

Bowlers: Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Kwena Maphaka, Tabraiz Shamsi

The bowling line looks set to remain the same in the South Africa Playing 11. Young pacer Kwena Maphaka had a good outing with the ball in the second ODI. He picked up 4 wickets although he was expensive and gave away 72 runs.

Andile Phehlukwayo and Bjorn Fortuin picked up a wicket each while Tabraiz Shamsi went wicketless.