South Africa leave out Anrich Nortje, back four pacers and Keshav Maharaj on a flat Ahmedabad pitch

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Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and chose to bowl against South Africa in their opening match of the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The decision puts South Africa in first on a surface expected to favour batting early before dew becomes a factor later in the evening.

South Africa have gone in with a pace-heavy combination, naming four fast bowlers in Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, while Keshav Maharaj is the lone specialist spinner. Notably, there was no place for Anrich Nortje despite the emphasis on pace. With the Ahmedabad black-soil pitch traditionally offering good bounce but limited turn, South Africa’s attack is expected to rely heavily on speed and seam movement.

In the batting order, Tristan Stubbs starts the tournament at No. 6, a role that Jason Smith occupied in South Africa’s previous T20I. Stubbs had batted at No. 7 in that match, but Smith, despite being part of the World Cup squad, misses out on a place in the playing XI. South Africa begin the contest as overwhelming favourites and will look to make the most of batting first on what is expected to be a flat surface.

For Canada, this is their second appearance at a men’s World Cup, and Dilpreet Bajwa leads the side at a global tournament for the first time. He opens the batting alongside Yuvraj Samra, with Canada’s hopes of an upset largely dependent on their top order firing on a batting-friendly pitch.

Canada come into the match after losses in both their warm-up games against Italy and Nepal. However, with dew likely to set in during the second innings, South Africa may look to post extra runs to offset any advantage Canada could gain while chasing under lights.

South Africa Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

Canada Playing XI:
Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel