Proteas bat in crucial ODI

Dubai - South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and opted to bat in the fifth and final one-day international against Pakistan at Dubai Stadium on Monday.

Pakistan was forced to make three changes after their wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider went missing from the team hotel.

Manager Intikhab Alam said Haider was nowhere to be found and did not come to the ground with the team.

"I can't make much comment on this, but can only confirm that Haider went missing and did not come the ground with other players," Alam told reporters.

Also left out were opener Imran Farhat and Asad Shafiq to make way for Mohammad Yousuf, Shahzaib Hasan and Umar Akmal. Akmal will keep wicket in place of Haider.

South Africa also made two changes, leaving out Wayne Parnell and David Miller to include Robin Peterson and Lonwabo Tsotsobe from the line-up of the fourth match.

The five-match series is levelled at 2-2.

South Africa won the first match by eight wickets before Pakistan levelled the series with a narrow one-wicket win in the second - both matches played in Abu Dhabi last week.

South Africa won the third match by two runs on Tuesday while Pakistan won the fourth match by one wicket - both played in Dubai.

The five-match one-day series will be followed by two Tests.

Teams:

Pakistan:

Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Shahzaib Hasan, Fawad Alam, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar

South Africa:

Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Colin Ingram, Robin Peterson, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Umpires: Nadeem Ghouri (PAK) and Daryl Harper (AUS)

Tv Umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)

Match Referee: Andrew Pycroft (ZIM)