Summary South Africa swept Pakistan 3-0 in February at home.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan in the opening test at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Monday.
The top ranked Proteas packed its team with four seamers Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis while Robin Petersen and J.P. Duminy are be the two spinners.
Pakistan handed debuts to opening batsman Shaan Masood, who is celebrating his 24th birthday, and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar.
Masood scored a half century in a warmup match against South Africa last week while Babar was drafted in after Abdul Rehman had a sore back.
South Africa swept Pakistan 3-0 in February at home and has not lost an away test series since losing 2-0 to Sri Lanka in 2006.
Lineups:
South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, A.B. de Villiers, J.P. Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Robin Petersen, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan.
Umpires: Paul Reiffel, Australia, and Rod Tucker, Australia.
TV Umpire: Ian Gould, England. Match Referee: David Boon, Australia.
