South Africa elected to bat under bright blue skies in Cape Town, giving an experimental line-up first opportunity to put runs on the board.
Reeza Hendricks continued as opener, after making his debut against Australia late last year, with Morne van Wyk partnering him in place of the injured Quinton de Kock. There was no room for Marchant de Lange, however.
West Indies had some of their big names back, despite suggestions that two of the men in the XI, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, have been excluded from their World Cup 15. Ashley Nurse, playing his first international in three years, was preferred to Sulieman Benn as the spin option in the absence of Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree.
Despite being ranked above West Indies, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was happy to view his side as underdogs beforehand. They have rested AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel for this series and will examine back-up options for the World Cup.
South Africa: 1 Morne van Wyk (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 David Miller, 7 David Wiese, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Kyle Abbott, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir
West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Jason Holder, 10 Ashley Nurse 11 Sheldon Cottrell
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