Toss South Africa chose to bowl vs West Indies
South Africa have decided to bowl first against West Indies in their Group 1 Super Eight clash, with Aiden Markram believing a tacky red soil Ahmedabad pitch will even out as the match goes on.
These are the last two unbeaten teams at this T20 World Cup, and only one 100% record will remain after today. A semi-final spot will not be guaranteed for the victor, but will go a long way to securing their final four spot with another couple of points and a boost to their net run rates.
South Africa have gone in unchanged, sticking with the XI that took down India so comprehensively on this ground four days ago. West Indies, however, have opted for Roston Chase over Akeal Hosein - a change Shai Hope stresses is purely for tactical reasons, the offspinner clearly preferred to combat the three left-hand batters in the opposition top five. Hope also said he would have bowled first.
That this will be South Africa's fourth match at the Narendra Modi Stadium is a clear advantage, one which Markram hopes will pay dividends. "We've been lucky to have played a few games here now," he said. "Each wicket has been quite different from the other. It's another exciting opportunity for us."
Conditions will also be different on this occasion. This is the first 3pm local time start at this ground, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Centigrade.
West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Rovman Powell, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Romario Shepherd, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Roston Chase, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Shamar Joseph
South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, 11 Lungi Ngidi