South Africa make four changes and ask UAE to bat

Toss South Africa chose to field vs UAE

South Africa have won the toss and chosen to bowl first against UAE in their T20 World Cup 2026 match on what captain Aiden Markram called a tacky pitch in Delhi. UAE captain Muhammad Waseem said he wanted to bowl first as well.

Weather also played a part in his decision – there was a drizzle just ten minutes before the toss, which forced parts of the ground to be covered.

Having already secured their place in the Super Eight, South Africa made four changes, pretty much emptying out their bench, mainly giving their premier bowlers a rest. They brought in Jason Smith, Kwena Maphaka and Anrich Nortje for their first games of the tournament, and also brought George Linde back. They left out David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi.

UAE made two changes too, for what will be their final outing at this World Cup.

Dhruv Parashar and Muhammad Farooq were brought in for Syed Haider and Simranjeet Singh to “give the side more balance”, as Waseem put it.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka

UAE: Aryansh Sharma (wk), Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah