DUNEDIN, New Zealand- South Africa captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat on Wednesday in the first test against New Zealand at the University Oval. Despite that, South Africa named paceman Morne Morkel in its lineup which also includes seamers Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada, along with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. Morkel has had a year-long battle with a back injury and played his most-recent test in January, 2016. Off-spinner Jeetan Patel returns to the test lineup with allrounder Mitchell Santner providing a left-arm spin option. New Zealand has won both of its test series at home this season, against Pakistan and Bangladesh, while South Africa is coming off recent series wins over Sri Lanka and Australia.

Source: The China Post March 12, 2017 20:04 UTC