Jacques Kallis, the top run-scorer in the Twenty20 World Cup, will miss South Africa's final second round match against India on Tuesday because of injury.
Captain Graeme Smith told a news conference on Monday that Kallis, who has scored 174 runs in four matches at opener, was suffering from a minor back injury.
South Africa have already qualified for the semi-finals.
"We are going to make one change tomorrow," Smith said.
"We are going to give Jacques a rest as he has a sore back so we will get him right for Thursday (first semi-final) and Morne Morkel is going to come in for him.
"In terms of our batting line-up everyone will slide up a place one and Herschelle (Gibbs) will come up front to open. From that perspective it will give everyone a good opportunity to play well.
"The top four have really laid the platform so guys like JP (Duminy), Bouch (Mark Boucher) and Albie (Morkel) might get a really good go."
Smith acknowledged that although victory was not essential for his team, the game was still a useful exercise prior to the semifinals.
"The game is about still challenging ourselves to play to the levels that we have and make sure our players are playing well and that our combinations are okay for Thursday," he said.