Proteas captain Quinton de Kock won the toss and opted to bowl first in Tuesday’s first ODI against England at Newlands in Cape Town.
ODI debutants Lutho Sipamla and Jon-Jon Smuts were named in South Africa’s XI.
The Proteas rested batsman Faf du Plessis, fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and others for this three-match series. The squad features several new caps, including wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne, seamer Sisanda Magala, batsman Janneman Malan and spinner Bjorn Fortuin.
‘We are in a rebuilding stage in the 50-over format. We are looking forward to the next World Cup and we are at a stage where we are looking for youngsters to come through, and to give them the best opportunities we can, and hopefully help them grow as cricketers and be great prospects for us in future,’ said new ODI captain De Kock, who has succeeded Du Plessis.
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South Africa and England have contested 60 ODIs since the first in 1992. The former have won 29 and the latter 27, with one tie and three no-results.
England have never beaten South Africa in an ODI at Newlands. They did, however, beat Pakistan at this venue during the 2003 World Cup. South Africa’s last 20 ODIs at Newlands have yielded 16 victories.
England are the reigning World Cup champions and occupy first position in the International Cricket Council’s rankings for ODI teams.
‘It was our goal to win the World Cup. We managed to achieve that, which is an unbelievable feeling, and it lays a platform for us to build for the next cycle. We will stick to the processes by which we try to get better all the time, and that will involve younger guys coming through and testing the guys who hold the positions at the moment, because that has worked extremely well for us over the last couple of years,’ said captain Eoin Morgan, who has assumed the leadership from Test skipper Joe Root.
Root recently led England to a 3-1 Test series victory over the Proteas. Having lost the series opener in Centurion, the tourists then won in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg.
Kingsmead in Durban and the Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the second and third ODI, respectively.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (captain, wicketkeeper), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Jon-Jon Smuts, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Beuran Hendricks, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Tabraiz Shamsi.
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Joe Denly, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Matthew Parkinson.
Photo: Gallo Images
