Three changes as Proteas bat first

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bat first in the T20 international series decider against Australia at Newlands.

Cape Town - Proteas captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bat first in the T20 international series decider against Australia at Newlands on Wednesday.

Heavy cloud cover throughout the day is likely to result in some swing under the lights later, and a slowish pitch showcased during the women’s international between South Africa and the West Indies earlier in the day would’ve influenced Du Plessis’ call to set a target rather than chase one.

The Proteas made three changes to the starting XI, with Hashim Amla replacing AB de Villiers at the top of the order, Rilee Rossouw coming in for Farhaan Behardien at No 5 and Kyle Abbott getting a chance ahead of Chris Morris.

Australia have also re-jigged their line-up, with left-hander Usman Khawaja opening the batting, with Aaron Finch dropping out, spinner Adam Zampa takes the place of Ashton Agar and paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile gets another run, with Josh Hazlewood missing out.

South Africa won the first match in Durban last Friday, with Australia levelling the series with a victory off the last ball in Johannesburg on Sunday.

* Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of the match at Newlands. Play starts at 6pm.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

Teams For Newlands

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (captain), JP Duminy, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, David Wiese, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir.

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson, Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Peter Nevill, Adam Zampa, John Hastings, Nathan Coulter-Nile.