00:52
Smith demands aggression, not sledging
Toss South Africa chose to bat v Australia
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Faf du Plessis won the toss and South Africa will bat in the first Test against Australia at the WACA.
The South Africans named left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj to make his Test debut and left out fast bowler Morne Morkel, who is returning from a back injury. Du Plessis said Morkel would benefit from a few more days of preparation, but in any case they wanted a spinner on a surface that did not appear to boast the WACA’s typical pace.
On a good batting surface, Steven Smith was hoping that Australia’s fast men would find some assistance early, although he said that he too would have chosen to bat. Australia had named their XI on the eve of the match, with Peter Siddle edging out Joe Mennie for the final place in the attack.
Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.
South Africa 1 Stephen Cook, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Keshav Maharaj.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo