England won the toss and chose to bowl vs South Africa
England have won the toss and inserted South Africa in the first T20I of their series in Cape Town.
England have, as expected, opted to open their innings with Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, with Jonny Bairstow moved down to No. 4. Both Sam and Tom Curran also win selection, with Mark Wood and Moeen Ali the men to miss out. England’s only spinner is Adil Rashid, who wins his 50th cap.
South Africa, meanwhile, preferred Temba Bavuma to Janneman Malan at the top of the order. There was also no place for Anrich Nortje, who bowled with impressive pace in the IPL, with South Africa instead opting to field two spinners in Tabraiz Shamsi and George Linde, who is making his T20I debut. There was also no place for David Miller.
With England having used T20Is to rest players in recent times, this series presents a rare occasion where they are at full strength. With the T20 World Cup less than a year away, they will be hoping to find a settled line-up over this series and in the five matches against India that follow in a few months.
South Africa’s preparations have been far from ideal. Struggling with Covid-related withdrawals and a board in turmoil, they have also not played international cricket since March.
Both teams are weaing black armbands during the first two games in reference to the five days of national mourning announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa for the victims of Gender Based Violence and Covid-19.
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (capt, wk), 2 Temba Bavuma, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 Pite van Biljon, 7 George Linde, 8 Lungi Ngidi, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Beuran Hendricks
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Adil Rashid