Australian captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl against the Proteas in the first ODI at Kingsmead on Thursday.
The Proteas, who are undergoing a fast bowling crisis, have included two left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin in their starting line-up.
Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee also returns to the ODI starting XI for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final against the Aussies in Kolkata.
There’s no place for middle-order batter Tristan Stubbs with left-hander Ryan Ricketlon slotted in the middle-order with Tony de Zorzi handed the responsibility of opening the batting with Quinton de Kock in the absence of Aiden Markram.
“We’ve had to dig into our bowling resources,” said Proteas captain Temba Bavuma, who will be playing his ODI in Durban.
“Opportunity for the guys who are going to have to come in and fill those shoes. We like to just do with what we have. I’ve full confidence in the guys who will be stepping in.
“I think if the toss had gone our way, probably would have bowled first. We know in the morning here, probably there’ll be more swing, maybe a little bit slower wicket. But yeah, we’ll have to adapt as well as we can.”
Australia, meanwhile, have handed an ODI debut to allrounder Jack Edwards, while wicket-keeper Alex Carey has been dropped for Cameron Green’s return.
“We’re going to bowl first and try and get an early start. It’d be lying if I said I could get a really good read on the wickets, but we’re going to bowl first,” Marsh said.
“Every series is really important to us. It’s great to get some exposure, certainly to our young guys who haven’t played much in South Africa before next year. But we’re up and about and hopefully we can have a good series.”
TEAMS FOR KINGSMEAD
Proteas: Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (capt), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj
Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
