England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to go bowling before the rain reached the Kia Oval; South Africa made four changes to their eleven after the loss in Manchester with Ryan Rickelton, Khaya Zonzo, Marco Jansen and Wiann Mulder coming on; the series is tied at 1-1
Rain forced abandonment on the first day of Test 3 between England and South Africa at the Kia Oval
The first day of the decisive third test between England and South Africa at the Kia Oval was abandoned due to persistent rain.
After a series of field inspections, it rained again and the referees made the decision to officially close the matter at 16:45 local time.
The start of the game had already been delayed 30 minutes due to overnight rain and about 10 minutes before the rescheduled start time, the skies opened up again.
Before that, England won the toss and Ben Stokes opted to stick to the tactic that has worked so well for his team this summer and shoot first.
Harry Brook received his first Test cap from fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root when he replaced the injured Jonny Bairstow in the only change to the XI that he won so convincingly at Emirates Old Trafford.
James Anderson also received his 175th test cap from former teammate Marcus Trescothick.
Meanwhile, South Africa made four changes to their team. Rassie van der Dussen is out with a broken finger, Lungi Ngidi has a problem and Aiden Markram and Simon Harmer are also out.
Hitters Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zonzo and all-rounder Wiann Mulder entered, with left-arm fast pitcher Marco Jansen also recalled.
Watch the second day of the third test between England and South Africa at the Kia Oval from 10.15am on Friday on Sky Sports Cricket. The game will start at 11 am.
