2nd ODI: South Africa win toss, opt to bat first against Australia at Mackay

Mackay [Australia], August 22 (ANI): South Africa stand-in skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bat first in the second ODI of the ongoing series at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay on Friday.

The Proteas currently lead the three-match series 1-0 with the third and final T20I set to be played on Sunday, August 24 at the same venue.

The visitors have brought in Tony de Zorzi and Senuram Muthuswamy in place of regular skipper Temba Bavuma and Prenelan Subrayen. On the other hand, the Men in Yellow have made only one change in the line-up as they have included Xavier Bartlett and left out Ben Dwarshuis.

After winning the toss, Markram said, "We are going to bat first. Looks good to the eye, again, don't have too much info on the venue, hopefully put up a good score. Temba is good, he's just having a rest day, de Zorzi comes in for him, and Muthusamy comes in for Subrayen. It is always good to win, but it is more important to back them up, and that's where the focus is today."

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said, "We were actually going to bat first today. Looks like a really good one-day wicket, happy to bowl first and hopefully we can restrict them to a chaseable total. Bartlett comes in for Dwarshius. We were outplayed, take our caps off for South Africa, but today is an opportunity to bounce back, the series is still alive, and the boys are up for it today."

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi. (ANI)

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