CENTURION: South Africa won the toss and sent Sri Lanka in to bat in the first Test at SuperSport Park here on Thursday.
The pitch was expected to provide assistance to the fast bowlers on a party cloudy day in the opening encounter of a three-match series. It had a mottled appearance with a good covering of grass over most of the surface.
South Africa named the same team that shared a two-match series with Australia last month, while Sri Lanka opted to leave spinner Ajantha Mendis out of their 12-man squad, leaving left-armer Rangana Herath as the sole spin back-up to a three-man pace attack.
Sri Lanka, making their first Test tour of South Africa in nine seasons, have lost six of seven previous Tests in South Africa.
Teams:
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wkt), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Kaushal Silva (wkt), Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara.
Umpires: Steve Davis, Rod Tucker (both AUS)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
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