Australia chooses to bowl in first ODI against South Africa

Australia won the toss and decided to bowl in the first one-day international against South Africa at the Mangaung Oval on Thursday.

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“It looks a great wicket so we’ll look to chase,” said Australian captain Mitchell Marsh.

Marsh, who led Australia to a 3-0 sweep in a Twenty20 series which ended on Sunday, captained the ODI team for the first time in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins.

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SOUTH AFRICA

“We don’t mind batting. We don’t normally play here at this time of year so we’re not quite sure what to expect,” said South African captain Temba Bavuma.

Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada returned to the South African line-up after being rested from the T20 series, while Australia included David Warner, Cameron Green, Alex Carey and Ashton Agar, who missed the T20 games.

With the Cricket World Cup less than a month away, both teams consisted of players selected for the global event.

TEAMS

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South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wkt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (captain), David Warner, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wkt), Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG), Allahudien Paleker (RSA)

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TV umpire: Nitin Menon (IND)

Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

str/jc