Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak won the toss and elected to bat in the triangular series one-day international match at the Rose Bowl here on Thursday.
South Africa, who have already qualified for Saturday’s final against England at Lord’s, rested all-rounder Jacques Kallis and replaced him with top order batsman Boeta Dippenaar.
Zimbabwe gave a series debut to off-spinning all-rounder Richard Sims, the only change to the team that lost by six wickets against England at Bristol on Sunday.
This match was the first international game ever staged at the Rose Bowl.
While the match gets underway, it was announced that Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock will both be given a short leave of absence from the tour, on compassionate grounds.
All-rounder Kallis’s father is gravely ill with cancer while former captain Pollock’s wife Tricia is pregnant and so cannot travel to England.
After the final, Pollock and Kallis will be allowed to return home and are expected back by July 18.
That means they will miss South Africa’s first warm-up match, for their five Test series with England, against Somerset at Taunton commencing on July 15. But they will be back in time for the second warm-up game,against India A at Arundel starting on July 19.
The first Test begins at Edgbaston on July 24.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Mark Boucher (wkt), Martin van Jaarsveld, Shaun Pollock, Paul Adams, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini
Zimbabwe: Dion Ebrahim, Grant Flower, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Tatenda Taibu (wkt), Richard Sims, Travis Friend, Heath Streak (capt), Andy Blignaut, Sean Ervine, Raymond Price, Douglas Hondo Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and David Shepherd (ENG)
TV umpire: Neil Mallender (ENG) Match referee: Clive Lloyd (WIS) – Sapa-AFP