England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bowl first on day one of the first Test against the Proteas at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.
Opener Aiden Markram was named in the host XI after recovering from a wrist injury, while middle-order batsman Rassie van der Dussen and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius debuted.
The home side avoided debuting left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks or right-armer Dane Paterson, instead retaining fast bowler Anrich Nortje.
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The two other uncapped players in the South Africa squad – wicketkeeper Rudi Second and batsman Pieter Malan – were left out of the XI.
Spinner Jack Leach was omitted from the visiting XI, which featured an all-seam attack, including all-rounder Ben Stokes.
This is the 150th Test between South Africa and England. This is also England fast bowler James Anderson’s 150th Test.
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Photo: BackPagePix
