Australia captain Pat Cummins has liked the look of the green Gabba wicket, opting to send South Africa in to bat after winning the toss.
Cummins, who returns as Australia's only change in place of Michael Neser after missing last week's thumping win over West Indies, will get first crack at the Proteas' new-look batting line-up as the eagerly anticipated three-Test series begins.
The Gabba traditionally has one of the more pace-friendly pitches in world cricket and curators have once again produced a track full of grass coverage.
"Looks like there's a bit of colour in the wicket, the crowd seems to be happy so we'll see how we go," Cummins said.
"It might be a bit misleading, the colour, but it feels hard, sometimes here at the Gabba is just gets better and better so no matter what happens today hopefully it's a good batting wicket later on."
It is the first red-ball match between the fierce rivals since Australia's ill-fated tour of South Africa in 2018 that will be forever remembered for the ball-tampering scandal.
The Proteas, who won 3-1 four years ago, have had even more of a makeover than Australia since the last series.
Prolific legends Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis have retired, leaving Australia to deal with a South African batting line-up even Cummins is unfamiliar with.
South Africa captain Dean Elgar said his team was up for the challenge as they look to claim a remarkable fourth consecutive Test series win in Australia.
"I was a little bit undecided but I think I was also going to bat first so it's worked OK for us," Elgar said.
"It does look a little greener than expected but it might play better than it looks."
Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne will bat at No.6, with South Africa going for a deep bowling line-up headed by star quick Kagiso Rabada
AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar (capt), Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.
