South Africa's regular skipper Temba Bavuma missed out on the important match against England in the ongoing World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Bavuma picked up an illness leading up to the match so he couldn't feature as Aiden Markram was given the captaincy who came out for the toss.
Opening batter Reeza Hendricks replaced Bavuma in the playing XI of the crucial encounter.
Bavuma has scored 59 runs in three innings so far with his highest score of 35 coming in the game against Australia.
"Bavuma is ill, so Reeza comes in. Nice opportunity for him. Might be a little bit in it (pitch) during the powerplay. Sort of motivates you a bit. Not focussing too much on it. It's about reaching those standards set by us. Reeza has been knocking on the door for a while, he comes in. It's a fantastic opportunity for him, "captain Markram said at the toss.
Talking about the toss, England captain Jos Buttler opted to bowl first as they were boosted by the return of star allrounder Ben Stokes to the side.
Stokes, who came out of ODI retirement in August to take part in England’s title defence, missed the first three matches of the World Cup due to a hip problem.
England made three changes to its playing XI that lost to Afghanistan in the last game. David Willey, Gus Atkinson, and Stokes were picked, with Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, and Chris Woakes missing out.
"We are going to bowl first. Generally a good ground for chasing, that's the reason behind it. It's not about looking back, need to look forward. Need to be at our best. Stokes comes in, Willey and Atkinson come in for Woakes and Curran. This wicket favors pace, so we are focussing on that. Everyone is eager to get going. Need to be true to ourselves. We need to play our brand of cricket," Buttler said at the toss.
Both teams will be aiming to return to winning ways after terrible outings in their respective last matches. England suffered a defeat against Afghanistan while South Africa were outplayed by the Netherlands.
South Africa stand in the third position with four points in three matches, having won two and lost one match so far.
On the other hand, England are placed sixth in the standings with just two one win and two points after three matches in the tournament.
Playing XIs:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), David Willey, Adil Rashid, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Reece Topley