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New West Indies ODI captain Shai Hope bats first; South Africa play four debutants

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Toss West Indies bat vs South Africa

The wait is finally over for Shai Hope and Rob Walter who begin their tenures as West Indies ODI captain and South Africa’s white-ball coach respectively, two days later than planned. After Thursday’s match was washed out, the skies cleared in East London, and sunshine greeted the two teams and a growing crowd at Buffalo Park, where West Indies opted to put runs on the board first.
South Africa will take the field with four debutants, partly to give new players opportunity and partly necessitated by illness and injury. Reeza Hendricks was unavailable after lacerating his right ring finger, opening the door for Ryan Rickelton to make his first ODI appearance. Tony de Zorzi, who debuted in Tests three weeks back, slots in at No. 4, with Aiden Markram rested.
Tristan Stubbs is to bat at No. 6, replacing David Miller, who is at the PSL, while Gerald Coetzee got his first cap in the absence of Kagiso Rabada, who is also given a break.

On a dry surface, South Africa opted for two specialist spinners in Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi, with Keshav Maharaj out for at least six months with a ruptured Achilles, having undergone surgery on Friday.

West Indies did not have similar dramas in compiling their XI. Hope takes charge of a team that welcomes back new T20I captain Rovman Powell, and includes legspinner Yannick Cariah and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein.

These matches are not part of the World Cup Super League, with West Indies having completed all their games, and South Africa’s last two matches to take place against Netherlands on March 31 and April 2.

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Tony de Zorzi, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Bjorn Fortuin 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

West Indies: 1 Kyle, Mayers, 2 Brandon King, 3 Shamarh Brooks, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Odean Smith, 9 Yannick Cariah, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Alzarri Joseph



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