Star fast bowler suffers ankle injury ahead of first one-dayer in Cairns, where Mitch Marsh elected to bowl first
Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the BKT Tyres ODI series due to inflammation in his right ankle.
Rabada played all three T20s in the preceding series and bowled his allotted four overs in the third match in Cairns on Sunday.
However the superstar fast bowler began experiencing discomfort after the match and underwent a scan on Monday.
The 30-year-old won’t return to South Africa but will instead remain with the squad for the remainder of the series.
Kwena Maphaka was added to the Proteas’ ODI squad yesterday, effectively serving as Rabada’s replacement for the 50-over matches.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and chose to field first on another perfect day in Cairns with an expected top of 27 degrees.
Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
Marsh has now won the toss 21 times as Aussie skipper, and chosen to chase every time.
Australia haven’t played an ODI since losing the Champions Trophy semi-final in March and have made four changes to that XI which lost to India in Dubai.
Out go the retired Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell plus Cooper Connolly and Tanveer Sangha. In their place is stand-in captain Marsh, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie and Josh Hazlewood.
South Africa also have a returning captain in Temba Bavuma, who will slot in at No.3.
Breakout star from the T20 series Dewald Brevis will make his ODI debut, earning SA cap No.159 and is listed to bat at No.5.
The Proteas have included six fresh faces from the 20-over matches, bringing in Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen and Nandre Burger.
The hosts have never lost an ODI at Cazalys Stadium although the sample size is only five matches. They defeated Bangladesh in two matches here in 2003 and knocked over New Zealand 3-0 in 2022.
BKT Tyres ODI Series – Australia v South Africa
August 19: First ODI v South Africa, Cazalys Stadium, Cairns, 2:30pm AEST
August 22: Second ODI v South Africa, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30pm AEST
August 24: Third ODI v South Africa, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30pm AEST
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa
South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Kwena Maphaka, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen
