South Africa, after winning the toss today in the first one day international cricket match against India being played at Durban, opted to bat first.

South Africa roped in off-spinner Johan Botha and seam bowlers Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe for its bowling attack on a pitch that traditionally favors fast bowlers.

Graeme Smith, who announced that he will step down from the one-day captaincy after the World Cup, will lead the Proteas in a one-day series for his final captaincy.

The five-match ODI series between India and South Africa, ranked 2 and 4 respectively, is taking place one month ahead of the Cricket World Cup which will be co-hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, M Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Colin Ingram, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn.