T20 WC 2026: South Africa win toss, elect to bowl first against UAE

New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bowl first against Muhammad Waseem-led United Arab Emirates in both teams' last ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage match, at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
South Africa have already secured a place in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2026 after clinching wins in all their three group-stage encounters so far. UAE, on the other hand, have been eliminated from the race after having managed just one win in their three matches so far. New Zealand are the second team from Group D to qualify for the Super 8s.
While South Africa come into the match having won their recent contest against New Zealand by seven wickets, UAE faced a five-wicket loss against Afghanistan in their previous World Cup fixture.
South Africa vs UAE T20 World Cup 2026 match playing 11s:
United Arab Emirates Playing 11: Aryansh Sharma(w), Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah
South Africa Playing 11: Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka.
After choosing to bowl first, Aiden Markram said the decision was influenced by early moisture, which he felt could assist the pacers upfront and possibly bring spin into play. He mentioned the team had made four changes to give more players game time, adding that squad depth is important and the side is focused on stepping up and making the most of the opportunity on the global stage.
"Obviously a bit of rain around. There's been moisture in here this morning and we'll be able to maybe find something in the wicket up front. Yeah, it feels it. Most of the square feels it as well. I don't know how much rain fell last night or how much water's been applied, but definitely has that tacky feel. And with our seamers up front, and even potentially spin my hold in the wicket, I think we can give a good start. Yeah, we've got four changes. It depends who you ask. More often than not, I think it's one thing with the full squad, if we get an opportunity now to give guys game time. Everybody's been working really hard behind the scenes, but there's nothing quite like the test of the whole world. So that's where we are now. We've got some guys getting controlled the problem and whatever the problem is, we're gonna go another notch and that's pretty much the thing to do out here. Push up times," Markram said. (ANI)