Ball-by-Ball Commentary
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:47 pm
168/5 to 297/8 with the bat. 129/1 to 230/10 with the ball. That's how South Africa turned things around in front of a passionate Durban crowd. That's all we have from this competitive game of cricket. The action moves to Johannesburg and tune in on Sunday for the second ODI. Until then, goodbye...
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:43 pm
Stats by Shashikant Singh South Africa spinners today (by lengths) Half Volley (1.5-3m): 0/4 (4 balls), ER: 6.0 Good (3-5m): 4/29 (64 balls), ER: 2.71 Back of a Length(5-6m): 2/14 (30 balls), ER: 2.8 Short (6m+): 0/7 (6 balls), ER: 7.00 Australia chasing today Overs 1-10: 96/1 Overs 11-20: 50/2 Overs 21-30: 43/3 Overs 31-41.2: 41/4 Marco Jansen’s four catches are the joint-second most (with six others) by a South African in an ODI innings, behind Jonty Rhodes’ five vs WI in 1993. Player with 50+ runs, 1+ wickets & 4+ catches in an ODI match Sachin Tendulkar vs PAK, Dhaka, 1998 Younis Khan vs ZIM, Harare, 2002 Michael Clarke vs IND, Melbourne, 2004 Marcus Labuschagne vs ENG, Nottingham, 2024 Marco Jansen vs AUS, Durban, 2026* Keshav Maharaj vs AUS in ODIs Mats: 13 Wkts: 22 Avg: 22.04 ER: 4.02 BBI: 5/33 22 wickets by Keshav Maharaj is the joint-most by a South African spinner against Australia in ODIs along with Pat Symcox (22). This is Keshav Maharaj’s fifth 4-wicket haul in ODIs - the second-most for a South Africa spinner after Imran Tahir (10). Maharaj’s 4/20 is the second-best ODI figures by a South African spinner against Australia at home, behind Boje’s 5/12 in Cape Town in 2002. Six wickets by South Africa spinners is the joint-most by them against Australia in an ODI innings. >> Fourth straight home win for South Africa over Australia - all batting first.
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:40 pm
Bavuma (2/2): [On the bowlers] You've got guys with a strong desire to make it for the team. It's opportunities for certain guys. They're very hungry to make the play for the team. Fortunately, we have a guy like Keshav, who from the spin department, who kind of helps in terms of the bowling overall. We've got a guy like Bjorn Fortuin as well, who's got a wealth of first-class experience. So I think that kind of balances it out. The spinners did an incredible job on the other side. In all, we kind of managed it quite well, the short boundary on this side and the two left-arm spinners on the other side. [On the second ODI and the Pink Day in the next game] Different conditions. We'll see what Wanderers has for us, and of course we're looking forward to the pink day. As per pink, we'll obviously play for the good cause of breast cancer.
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:40 pm
Temba Bavuma (1/2): Very satisfied for me. It was a good fight from the batters, from the bowlers. Looking at how both innings started in the first ten, both of them we were under pressure, but we managed. With the bat, get ourselves to a very competitive score on that wicket, and then similarly with the bowling as well. Again under pressure after the first ten, but we kind of stuck in and we were able to get on the right side of that result. [On the conditions and what South Africa expected coming into the game] I think I was hoping to win the toss. That's the first thing. As batters, we knew it was going to be tough. It's obviously a different thing when you're out there. They really put us under pressure, hitting those Test lengths and lines hard. We tried to make the play now and then. You saw after the first ten that we were under pressure. In saying that, we still stayed in it. Matthew Breetzke, the way that he batted, positions he showed, the intensity, I think that's something that all of us, we can commend. Jansen as well at the end, being able to add a couple of punches there, that got us to a good total. Then with the ball, we're probably poor in the first ten. I think the only nice thing is that you expect Australians to play like that. The challenge is always to make sure that the body language is positive, but I think mentally just staying in the game. We just waited for the opportunity to turn it to your favour.
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:37 pm
Mitchell Marsh: [On his reaction to the defeat] Pretty disappointed. Like I said, outplayed us. Getting 100 of the last ten overs. We came close, but we fell well short tonight. [On South Africa reaching nearly 300 after Australia restricted them early] We sort of know that's the way that they tend to play. They like to build in their fifty overs and go hard in the last sort of ten, fifteen. We pushed to try and get that extra couple of wickets there and it didn't quite go our way and I thought Marco (Jansen) batted very well. It was hard to bowl to, particularly with that short boundary. So credit where credit's due. They did well to get to 300 on that wicket and then obviously we had opportunities, probably sounding like a broken record and it comes to partnerships without batting, but we weren't able to form many tonight. [On the importance of partnerships after getting the required run rate down] Well, we managed to get the run-rate down and from there, as I said, it was about forming partnerships. We needed Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin to be key for us in the way that we played them. Unfortunately, weren't able to execute long enough for long periods of time, but that's the way it goes. I think it's good learning. It's a great opportunity for us if we come up against that in game two to learn from this and get better and try and make it one-all. [On moving from Durban to the Wanderers and adapting to the conditions] Look, I'm a little bit unsure of how that wicket's playing these days. It's been a while for me. But as a batter I know the ball travels, and as someone who doesn't bowl anymore, it's quite nice going up there.
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:23 pm
Matthew Breetzke | Player of the Match - [On reflecting on his innings and putting the team in a strong position] Not really, to be honest. You're right up there. I think, really tricky (wicket). Those first two wickets went down against a world-class bowling attack. I really had to dig deep, and it took a lot out of me, but I'm just grateful that I got through and scored that 100 for everyone. [On the batting approach to combat the difficult conditions] The chat was just to play straight. I think as soon as you looked (to play) too square, you saw a couple of balls result in leading edges and stuff like that. So it was just to play straight, have good body language and get through. [On Marco's attacking approach during their partnership] I think if you look at him, when he's at his best, he looks to attack. So I don't think it was necessarily a plan from him. He got one away and then he just led with the momentum and I was happy to feed him strong. [On the celebration after scoring a hundred from number four] Well, obviously I've been batting four for the last sort of year, so I'm getting used to that role now. But I think the celebration was more just because it was so tough upfront and I actually found myself there a lot. So it was just a great feeling.
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:23 pm
17:53 Local Time, 15:53 GMT, 21:23 IST: Good all-round performance from South Africa to go 1-0 up in this three-match ODI series. Australia opted to bowl and removed both the South African openers cheaply. Despite a couple of decent partnerships, the hosts were reduced to 168/5. That's when Matthew Breetzke and Marco Jansen forged a brilliant 107-run stand. The former recorded his second ODI ton while the latter registered his joint highest ODI score to take their team to 297. In reply, the Aussies got off to a rollicking start. Mitch Marsh hit boundaries for fun and raced to 60 inside the powerplay. Maharaj provided the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Marsh in the 10th over. The way Head and Connolly were batting, things looked rosy for the visitors. Just like the first innings, the Proteas fought back and in style. Poor shots, disciplined bowling and flawless fielding resulted in Australia losing the momentum altogether. Maharaj was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, Fortuin bowled beautifully as well to take two important wickets and the pacers accounted for the remaining wickets. Special mention to Jansen, who pulled off an incredible catch to dismiss Renshaw, which eventually triggered a collapse as Australia lost their last four wickets for just 15 runs.
- 41.2wicketAUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:22 pm
Keshav Maharaj to Adam Zampa, out Caught by Matthew Breetzke!! South Africa win by 67 runs! Adam Zampa gets down to play the slogsweep and top-edges due to the extra bounce. Matthew Breetzke, the centurion in the first innings, runs in and tumbles to complete a fine catch. Adam Zampa c Matthew Breetzke b Keshav Maharaj 7(15) [4s-1]
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:22 pm
Keshav Maharaj to Adam Zampa, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
- 41.1AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:21 pm
Keshav Maharaj to Adam Zampa, no run, 84.2kph, non-turner, knocked towards wide mid-on
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:20 pm
Josh Hazlewood, left handed bat, comes to the crease
- 40.6AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:20 pm
Corbin Bosch to Nathan Ellis, out Bowled!! Chopped on! 138.4kph, hard length from Bosch, Ellis shapes to heave it through midwicket and ends up dragging it onto his stumps via an inside edge. Nathan Ellis b Corbin Bosch 4(10)
- —AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:20 pm
Corbin Bosch to Nathan Ellis, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
- 40.5AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:19 pm
Corbin Bosch to Adam Zampa, 1 run, 129.8kph, short and that's been pulled to deep square leg
- 40.4fourAUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:18 pm
Corbin Bosch to Adam Zampa, FOUR, 140.5kph, shortened length, Zampa stands tall and slams it over mid-off for a one-bounce four
- 40.3AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:18 pm
Corbin Bosch to Adam Zampa, no run, 134.8kph, pitched up delivery, driven straight to mid-off
- 40.2AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:17 pm
Corbin Bosch to Nathan Ellis, 1 run, 139.5kph, tails in a bit does this length ball, Ellis stays leg-side and manages to guide it to third man
- 40.1AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:16 pm
Corbin Bosch to Nathan Ellis, no run, skiddy ball on a short of a good length outside off, Ellis slashes and misses. Bit of extra bounce as well
- 39.6AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:15 pm
Keshav Maharaj to Adam Zampa, no run, fullishball from wide of the crease, pushed to point. Maiden over
- 39.5AUS· 24 Sept 2026, 09:15 pm
Keshav Maharaj to Adam Zampa, no run, full delivery, kept out