Australia sweating on Zampa fitness

A stomach bug to Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa could force a selection re-think for the first T20 international against South Africa on Saturday morning (AEDT).

Zampa was set to make his T20 debut for Australia in Durban, but now that is in doubt after he was ordered to rest on Thursday while his teammates slogged it out at training in humid conditions at Kingsmead.

"Adam Zampa is a little bit crook today (Thursday)," Australia captain Steve Smith said.

"He's not training which could change a few things. We'll wait and see how the guys get through training today."

Uncapped left-arm orthodox Ashton Agar, the other spinner in the 15-man touring party who has played two Tests and as many ODIs, would likely replace Zampa if he fails to recover in time.

As Australia's opening match of the 2016 ICC World T20, against New Zealand on March 18, draws closer, Smith's pleas to have the wickets in South Africa mirror those expected in India may have been answered.

Quick Single: Durban pitch takes a turn

The Kingsmead pitch traditionally assists seam bowling, but under the baking sun the playing surface appears dry and ready to take turn, according to Proteas captain Faf du Plessis.

"Yeah, I see Smithy's chat there helped quite a bit by saying that the conditions will be slow in South Africa," Du Plessis said

"It looks like it will be slow here, so we'll just have to adapt.

"It's really important for us to make smart decisions on the field, generally the teams who do that best in India are the teams that do better."

With Australia planning on using each squad member during the three-match series, the spotlight again shines on who will open the innings.

David Warner and Usman Khawaja, two of four specialist T20 openers in the group alongside Aaron Finch and Shane Watson, opted not to bat on Thursday.

Watson had an extended run in the nets, and Finch showed no signs of the hamstring injury that kept him out of action for a month as he bossed the local net bowlers.

Finch's lack of recent matches could cost him his spot for game one, but with the second T20 only two days later, the Victorian will likely feature in Johannesburg.

Australia's bowlers had a light hit out on match eve, opting to go through their paces on the centre wicket, with only towering paceman Josh Hazlewood not bowling out in the middle.

John Hastings , Mitchell Marsh, Andrew Tye and Nathan Coulter-Nile all bowled with sharp pace, but it's the latter two specialists who could find themselves missing from game one to accommodate Hazlewood and the ensemble of allrounders.

The new squad of fresh faces is unfamiliar to Du Plessis who says his charges will need to assert their will early on if they are to topple the tourists.

"For me, and us as a team, it's important to be adapting very quickly, and that's a great challenge against an Australian team that we don't know all the bowlers that well," Du Plessis said.

"(It's about) how quickly can you get used to their action and try and put some pressure on them.

"Even though it's new faces, an Australian team are a very great cricketing nation so whoever they put on the park will be a very strong team and we have to play our best cricket to beat them."

South Africa also declined to name their side, with their selection conundrum matching the visitors' dilemma at the top of the order.

One of the "great" selection headaches facing du Plessis's side is who will open the batting.

Test and ODI captain AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla put England to sword in their last T20 clash last month, but the return of wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock will likely force a reshuffle.

"We're looking to try and give everyone in the squad a go in this series," Du Plessis said.

"So that means trying all the combinations of Quinny (de Kock) and AB (de Villiers), or Hash (Amla) and AB.

"Obviously both of them have done really well, they're in good form.

"But that's great, it's great if we can have more depth in our squad for the World Cup. So I don't see it as a problem.

"The more options as captain, the better."

Du Plessis also welcomed back spearhead Dale Steyn.

"It's great to have him (Steyn) back," he said. "It's great to see him hungry.

"For me, a hungry Dale Steyn is the reason why we were thinking of selecting him for this World Cup.

"Dale, when he's like that in that space, he'll be consistently proving to everyone that he's the best bowler in the world,"

Possible Australia XI: David Warner, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Peter Nevill (wk), Adam Zampa/Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood

Possible South Africa XI: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, David Wiese, Chris Morris, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir