Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to bowl first on day one of the second Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town on Monday.

Mathews’ decision was prompted by overcast skies, complemented by a rather green pitch, which pledged plenty of swing and seam for a visiting pace attack spearheaded by right-armer Suranga Lakmal.

The previous Test skipper to stick the opposition in at Newlands was AB de Villiers, in February 2013, when the Proteas beat Pakistan by four wickets inside four days.

The hosts named an unchanged XI, which won the series opener at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth comfortably, while the tourists replaced the out-of-form Kusal Perera and ineffective Dushmantha Chameera with left-handed batsman Upul Tharanga and 19-year-old seamer Lahiru Kumara, respectively.

Dinesh Chandimal, who had a fever overnight, handed the wicketkeeping duties to Kusal Mendis.

South Africa: Dean Elgar, Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis (captain), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Vernon Philander, Kyle Abbott, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada.

Sri Lanka: Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Rangana Herath, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep.

Jonhenry Wilson, at Newlands