Leeds - South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss and elected to field against England in the day/night first one-day international at Headingley on Wednesday.
England recalled all three players who had been allowed extended spells in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League - star all-rounder Ben Stokes, paceman Chris Woakes and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
That meant England dropped Jonny Bairstow on his Yorkshire home ground after the wicketkeeper/batsman starred in England's recent 2-0 ODI home series win over Ireland.
But there was a recall for off-spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali.
South Africa, the world's number one ranked ODI side, selected Wayne Parnell ahead of Dwaine Pretorius, while fast bowler Morne Morkel was left out.
This three-match series serves as a warm-up for both sides ahead of next week's start of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in England which will feature the world's top eight ODI teams.
A minute's silence in memory of those killed in the Manchester terror attack on Monday was due to be observed before play started, with players from both teams wearing black armbands as a mark of respect.
The series continues at Southampton on Saturday and finishes at Lord's on Monday.
Teams:
England
Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood
South Africa
Quinton de Kock (wkt), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (captain), JP Duminy, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir
Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Tim Robinson (ENG)
TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)