Centurion, South Africa: West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl first under cloudy skies in the opener of a three-test series against South Africa got underway at Centurion on Wednesday.
Rain delayed the toss by half an hour, and West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin made the obvious choice to give his seamers first use of a favorable pitch to try to unsettle South Africa's strong batting order.
The expected assistance for fast bowlers led South Africa to leave out spinner Robin Peterson and field an all-seam attack. The hosts also gave an international debut to batsman Stiaan van Zyl, with Jean-Paul Duminy out injured.
With Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo absent from the West Indies squad, opening batsman Devon Smith was selected for his first test since 2011, while batsman Leon Johnson and seamer Sheldon Cottrell earned their second test caps.
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South Africa: Hashim Amla (capt), Dean Elgar, Alviro Petersen, Faf du Plessis, A.B. de Villiers, Stiaan van Zyl, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Kyle Abbott.
West Indies: Denesh Ramdin (capt, wk), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine Blackwood, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Sulieman Benn.
