South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first on a flat-looking SuperSport Park pitch.
South Africa are relying on a tried-and-tested combination with the returns of batsman David Miller and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher being the only changes to the squad that did duty in the World Cup.
Unlike on the sub-continent, South Africa are playing just the one specialist spinner in Johan Botha, allowing the selection of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and six specialist batsmen.
Australia, with two top-order batsmen on the injured list in Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh, have been forced to open the batting with stalwart Ricky Ponting.
They will be relying heavily on their top four of Warner, Ponting, Clarke and Hussey, while they have decided to bank on the pace of left-armer Doug Bollinger, rather than the accuracy of James Pattinson, who impressed during the Pro20s.
Teams
South Africa - Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla (capt), Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Mark Boucher (wk), Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Australia - David Warner, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Mike Hussey, Steve Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Doug Bollinger, Pat Cummins.
Aus 49/1 after 9 warner bowled by Steyn for 20