Pakistan fought back to restrict South Africa to 82 for three wickets at the close of the opening day of the first test after being bowled out for 211 at Centurion on Thursday. Wickets for Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas saw Pakistan break through the top of the batting order to leave their hosts trailing by 129 runs at the close.

Dane Paterson bagged his second successive five-wicket haul and Corbin Bosch made a dream test debut with a wicket off his first ball as 13 batters fell to pace bowlers on an eventful start to the Boxing Day test match between South Africa and Pakistan on Thursday.

South Africa will be eyeing a place in the World Test Championship final with an all-seam attack against Pakistan in the first test, starting Thursday.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola looked aghast at numerous points of his struggling team's 1-1 Boxing Day draw with Everton on Thursday, burying his face in his hands several times while watching their miserable run of poor results continue.

Follow live coverage of South Africa vs Pakistan from the Pakistan in South Africa 2024/2025 today. The ICC Test Championship sees nine teams compete across a two-year cycle of matches before a two-team final decides the winner.

Shan Masood (C), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas. South Africa vs Pakistan Live Score: South Africa (Playing XI) - Aiden Markram,

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released the playing XI of Pakistan, which will feature against South Africa in the first Test of the two-match . The venue for the game is SuperSport Park in Centurion.