Melbourne, Australia: South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers won the toss and elected to bat Friday in the fourth limited-overs international against Australia, chasing a win to save the series.
Australia, leading the five-match series 2-1, batted first in the previous three matches, winning the first and third games in Perth and Canberra.
Both teams made four changes to the starting lineups.
Mitchell Marsh was released from the Australia squad Friday so he can play for Western Australia in the domestic Sheffield Shield and push for a spot in the Australian team for the upcoming test series against India.
Allrounders James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell were recalled, along with 21-year-old paceman Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile in a reshaped Australian bowling attack.
Legspinner Imran Tahir was sidelined for South Africa because of a knee injury sustained in the Canberra match, while pacemen Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and Rilee Rossouw were left out of the XI.
Allrounders Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell were recalled along with Robin Peterson and Kyle Abbott.
Teams:
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steven Smith, George Bailey (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, A.B. de Villiers (captain), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott.
Umpires: Billy Bowden, New Zealand, and John Ward, Australia.
TV umpire: Nigel Llong, England; Match referee: Javagal Srinath, India.
Series: Australia leads best-of-five series 2-1.
