Zimbabwe captain Brendon Taylor has won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against Pakistan in Harare on Thursday.

Both teams are coming into the contest after playing a hard-fought three-match T20I series where the Men-in-Green emerged victorious with a 2-1 margin.

The two-match series will be a stern test for the home team who have only managed to beat the Green Caps three times in the history of the five-day format in 17 meetings whereas they’ve suffered 10 defeats.

Lineups

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (captain), Prince Masvaure, Kevin Kasuza, Tarisai Musakanda, Milton Shumba, Roy Kaia, Regis Chakabva (wicketkeeper), Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chisoro, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan.