Toss Australia chose to bowl v South Africa
On what is expected to be a flat surface, Mitchell Marsh chose to chase in the first ODI and avoid a cold evening in the field later. With spring only just making its appearance, temperatures in Bloemfontein will be pleasant through the afternoon but will dip sharply from sunset, reaching single digits in Celsius by the time the match is set to end.
South Africa were happy to set Australia a target as they look to record a sixth straight win over them in ODIs. They brought back their big guns, who sat out the T20Is, with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller making up the middle-order and Kagiso Rabada set to lead the attack. Quinton de Kock will play his last ODI series at home after his decision to retire from the format was announced earlier this week.
South Africa: 1 Temba Bavuma, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Gerald Coetzee, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada.
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 David Warner, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Ashton Agar, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
Source: ESPN Crickinfo