In turning up for the third game of the ongoing series versus South Africa in Port Elizabeth this Thursday (January 16), England became the first-ever nation to play 500 Tests away from the home; winning 149, losing 182 and drawing 168 of those, with a win percentage of 0.818. 

While Australia has a better record in terms of results, England's Ashes rival is positioned second in the list with 404 away Tests, followed by West Indies (295 Tests), Pakistan (274), India (268), New Zealand (226) and the rest. 

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South Africa, having been sidelined from international cricket during the apartheid era, has had 200 away Tests; winning 57, losing 75 and drawing 68, with a win percentage of 0.760. 

Meanwhile, England left out injured Jofra Archer and picked Mark Wood in place of spearhead James Anderson who was ruled out of the tour after aggravating a rib injury at Newlands in his team's 189-run victory. 

Further, the visitors didn't pick Chris Woakes and retained off-spinner Dom Bess on a surface where spin and reverse swing are expected to play a major role. 

Wood is playing his first Test in almost a year following a five-wicket haul at St Lucia versus West Indies last February. 

"It is a surface that could deteriorate so we want to make good use of it upfront," Root said on winning the toss and deciding to bat first. 

For South Africa, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius had to make way for debutant pacer Dane Paterson. 

"It would have been tough to decide what to do because with the wind there is a bit of swing on day one, but if I won the toss I would have batted first too," skipper Faf du Plessis said. 

(Inputs from HT)