SA to use remaining ODIs against Pakistan to continue experimenting ahead of Cricket World Cup

South Africa will continue to experiment in their quest to get the right balance for this year's Cricket World Cup when they face Pakistan in the three remaining ODIs and in the coming five against Sri Lanka.

Captain Faf du Plessis said on Thursday they have not yet nailed down places for the World Cup opener against hosts England at the Oval on May 30.

He added that they are faced with tough decisions to make in picking a squad that will go all out to win the global tournament later this year.

As the South Africans prepare for the third ODI against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on Friday‚ De Plessis said they have many tricky things to consider as they attempt to balance the team.

“If you look at the balance of the side‚ you will have an extra fast bowler and extra spinner‚" he said.

"We have the extra spinner but the fast bowler is something that we are still looking at.

"The all-rounder will be the extra guy and we will have to make a call on whether he is an extra batter or keeper batter.

"That becomes a little bit tricky and it starts become being interesting.”

“We have said it before that closer to the Pakistan series we wanted to be near a team that will play at the World Cup but injuries have not made that possible and we had a few players coming in.

"For the next few games‚ it will still be about giving guys opportunities to find where they fit in the team.”

The injury to fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has forced the think tank to look elsewhere.

The emergence of batsman Rassie van der Dussen has increased competition in the batting department while Andile Phehlukwayo looks interested in taking the all-rounder spot.

“The fact that Lungi got injured opened a slight gap to look at who is the next guy‚ but if he was available he could have played‚" Du Plessis said.

"Because he is not available for this series and we expect him to be back for the next series against Sri Lanka‚ we had to look at who else is out there.

“Before the series‚ Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram were in a shootout for a place in the top order and now we have added Rassie.

"There is a lot of competition in the batting department and Rassie has taken the opportunity with both hands by scoring runs.

"But what is even more impressive about him is how he is scoring those runs and he is versatile because he can play anywhere.

“We like the balance of four seamers or three seamers and a spinner‚ but the challenge with the all-rounder is that you only have so many games.

"Andile played very well in the previous game and he will be given another opportunity.”