CWC: Australia win toss, decide to field against South Africa

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl first in the 10th match of the ongoing ODI World Cup against Temba Bavuma-led South Africa at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.

Australia are going into this game on the back of a loss in its campaign opener against hosts India in Chennai.

The Proteas, on the other, are coming off a comprehensive 102-run win in their opening encounter against Sri Lanka.

“We are going to have a bowl. Not too sure what to make of this wicket. It seems like it’s got a bit of moisture. Two changes. Stoinis is back in place of Green and Josh Inglis comes in for Alex Carey. Fee runs short (vs India), really happy with the way we bowled. They (South Africa) have started the tournament really well, always a good challenge,” Cummins said at the toss.

“I wasn’t too sure, whatever we do first, we’ll have to do well. Shamsi comes in for Coetzee. Bit of both (conditions and for the opposition). Shamsi has had decent success against them, we’d like to unleash them. There could be some spin and bounce,” Bavuma said.

Australia playing XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (Wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

South Africa playing XI: Quinton de Kock (Wk), Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.

The match will kick off at 2 pm (IST).