Australia have announced their playing XI for the first ODI of the five-match series against South Africa to be played in Bloemfontein on Thursday, September 7. The fixture will witness the return of David Warner and Travis Head as the opening pair of the Aussies, while star allrounder Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green are likely to bat at No. 3 and 4 respectively.
The Mitchell Marsh-led team was clinical in the recently culminated three-match T20I series. Australia registered a clean sweep over South Africa winning the T20I series 3-0 and outplayed the Proteas in every single contest.
The tourists won the first T20I by 111 runs, claimed the second game by eight wickets and registered a five-wicket win in the third and final T20I to seal the series in their favour. All three matches of the bilateral contest were played at the Kingsmead in Durban.
Marsh, who was leading the T20I team as interim skipper will again have the responsibility to marshall his troops during the ODI leg of the ongoing tour. The absence of several star batters like Steven Smith, and Glenn Maxwell among others provides a wonderful opportunity for Green, Josh Inglis and Alex Carey among others to impress the team management with their run-scoring ability.
The visitors have decided to go in with two frontline spinners in the form of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar which is yet another highlight of the playing XI that has been finalised apart from it being allrounder-heavy. The match will start at 4:30 PM IST and 1:00 PM local time. Meanwhile, the Proteas will be led by Temba Bavuma and will have the services of pacers Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje among others.
Australia's playing XI for the first ODI vs South Africa:
David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa's playing XI for the first ODI vs Australia:
Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
