Toss South Africa chose to bowl v Zimbabwe
The wait for Dale Steyn’s return to white-ball cricket continued as he was left out of South Africa’s XI for their first one-day international against Zimbabwe in Kimberley, where stand-in captain JP Duminy won the toss and decided to bowl. Christiaan Jonker was handed an ODI debut, and he will look to transfer his T20 skills to one-day cricket, while Imran Tahir also returned, after being rested for the Sri Lanka tour.
The thinking behind Duminy’s decision was that a little grass cover, and some morning moisture in the surface might make things difficult for the batsmen in the first hour, before the strip becomes good for batting in the afternoon. Duminy also pointed out that, historically, Kimberley favours the side batting second.
Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada will share the new ball for South Africa, while Dean Elgar has been given the chance to add to the six ODIs he has played for the national side, and should slot in at the top of the order.
For South Africa, this match marks the beginning of their home season, and the start of their preparations for the World Cup. In that regard, Duminy, standing in as captain while Faf du Plessis recovers from a shoulder injury, reckoned that replicating their style of play from the recent tour of Sri Lanka “is going to be crucial for us”.
A slightly uneven outfield could make diving and fielding tricky, while the strong breeze blowing across the ground will also play a role through the day.
“We believe that if we play better on the day we can win,” Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput said before the start of play. “In cricket, anything can happen. First and foremost is the mindset. You’ve got to have a positive mindset.”
South Africa: 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Reeza Hendricks, JP Duminy (capt), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Christiaan Jonker, Willem Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi
Zimbabwe: Solomon Mire, Hamilton Masakadza (capt), Brendan Taylor (wk), Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, PJ Moor, Elton Chigumbura, Brandon Mavuta, Kyle Jarvis, Wellington Masakadza, Tendai Chatara