South Africa vs Australia: De Kock wins the toss and elects to bat first

South Africa have won the toss and opted to bat first sending Australia into the field in blazing heat.

South Africa hit by injury

South Africa have had a few injury concerns over and above the leave of absence granted to Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen.

Kagiso Rabada will miss the series with a groin strain which will test the Proteas bowling depth again.

Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne come into the XI for their ODI debuts while Temba Bavuma is also fit to return to action and will bat at three. Malan will open the batting with De Kock.

Australia have left out Ashton Agar in favour of D’Arcy Short who plays as a spin-bowling allrounder and is expected to bat at seven but those plans could change during the chase.

It is a scorching hot late summer day in Paarl and if you’re planning on heading down to the ground remember that cover is limited and sunscreen is a must. Traffic is something of a nightmare around the ground but should settle down as the action gets underway. The wildfire raging at the nearby Dutoitskloof pass will lend a hazey hue to proceedings but shouldn’t effect the match.

The wind provides some relief from the heat but could also aid batsmen who use the breeze to their advantage.

“The wind in Paarl is always something you’ve got to take into account. There’s longer and shorter boundaries, so you’ve got to be smart in the way that you go about things. We’ve played enough international cricket to know that it plays a major part,” Proteas team Director Mark Boucher said in the build-up.

Playing XIs

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk, capt), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Kyle Verreynne, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 D’Arcy Short, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa