Key events
6th over: South Africa 25-0 (Markram 16, Rickelton 8) Alex Carey is called back into action in the field as Ryan Rickelton takes off for a risky single that very nearly costs the opener his wicket. The ball bounces to Carey’s left and the time it takes him to get around it to pick up with his right and get a throw away is enough to pile on the pressure as the ball sails narrowly wide. Rickelton would have been out with a direct hit.
5th over: South Africa 20-0 (Markram 11, Rickelton 8) Alex Carey scampers across the outfield unusually without the wicketkeeping gloves and pads as Josh Inglis lines up behind the stumps. The Australian chases down a drive from Rickelton inside the rope and drops the ball neatly over the stumps as if to prove he can do it all. The South Africa openers still don’t look comfortable against Hazlewood but will be happy to pick up four runs from the over.
4th over: South Africa 16-0 (Markram 10, Rickelton 5) A tighter line from Ben Dwarshuis has Aiden Markram playing with caution until the final delivery when the South African punishes a wider ball with a square drive to the boundary.
3rd over: South Africa 11-0 (Markram 6, Rickelton 5) Aiden Markram finally opens up as he caresses a square drive across a lightning quick outfield to send the ball crashing into the rope. The South Africa opener repeats the stroke with a touch more power but it bounces straight to point.
2nd over: South Africa 6-0 (Markram 1, Rickelton 5) Ben Dwarshuis takes the new ball in his first ODI on home soil and the South Africa openers find the drop in pace easier to get away. Ryan Rickelton opens the scoring with a thick edge before Aiden Markram gets off the mark with a single to mid-off. The first contender for shot of the day goes to Rickelton as he uses the swing away from him to hammer a cover drive to the rope.
1st over: South Africa 0-0 (Markram 0, Rickelton 0) Josh Hazlewood does what he does best and immediately locks into a perfect line and length against Aiden Markram. The Australian metronome begins with a top-quality first over. That’s a maiden.
Josh Hazlewood is at the top of his mark with Aiden Markram on strike. Here we go …
The wind is blowing hard across Cazalys Stadium which should please Australia’s quicks including Josh Hazlewood, Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis who each impressed in the T20 series.
Openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton are also heading to the crease with the former especially in need of runs after scoring only 31 in three knocks while leading South Africa in the T20 series.
Australia will play this ODI in the shadow of former captain and coach Bob Simpson who was critical to turning the side’s fortunes around alongside Allan Border after a lean patch through the 1980s.
Simpson died aged 89 after also playing 62 Tests for Australia over more than two decades. Mike Selvey has written in depth about one of the greats of Australian cricket.
South Africa XI
Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
Dewald Brevis is named for his ODI debut with Prenelan Subrayen also playing his first 50-over international as South Africa go with two spinners.
Australia XI
Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Marnus Labuschagne returns to the lineup hoping that white-ball runs might press his claims for a place in the Ashes squad, while Alex Carey comes in as a specialist batter.
Australia win the toss and elect to field
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma calls “heads” but tails comes up. Mitch Marsh has a huge call to make but for the 21st time as Australia captain he says, “just thought I’d change it up and say that we’ll have a bowl first”.
The Australia captain explains that the decision is based on more than just habit. “The wicket looks a touch drier than the other night but we saw that the dew plays a part so that’s the main reason why,” Marsh adds.
Bavuma admits that he would have liked to bat first, but is happier to announce that Dewald Brevis will make his ODI debut. “He’s the star of the show at the moment, it would be nice if he could carry on with his heroics in the ODI format,” the Proteas skipper says.
Dewald Brevis is expected to make his ODI debut for South Africa today – after smashing 125 not out and 53 in the last couple of T20s against Australia. The Proteas could do with Brevis’s power hitting after their bowling stocks suffered a huge blow when Kagiso Rabada was ruled out of the ODI series.
🚨Squad Update 🚨
Proteas Men’s fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia due to inflammation of his right ankle.
The 30-year-old underwent a scan on Monday, which confirmed the extent of the injury. He… pic.twitter.com/8SYrKWMgHz
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) August 19, 2025
The toss will be coming up in about five minutes – but it seems we can easily predict which way it will go if Mitch Marsh gets to decide whether Australia will bat or bowl first.
Australia’s middle-order maverick Tim David and South Africa’s rising star Dewald Brevis lit up the T20s in Darwin, but it was left to a more familiar name in Glenn Maxwell to steer the hosts home with one ball to spare in the decider held in Cairns.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first one-day international between Australia and South Africa at Cazalys Stadium. The focus turns to three matches in the 50-over format after a gripping T20 series over the past couple of weeks that included some powerful hitting in Darwin then went into a decider held in Cairns.
Glenn Maxwell was the hero with the bat as Australia clinched a T20 series victory last Saturday night, though the white-ball great will be missing from this group of games after retiring from ODIs with the next World Cup still two years away.
There are a number of other changes to each squad as the teams give opportunities to fresh talent and aim to find the right mix and formula for the longer term. Australia’s designated ODI captain Pat Cummins is unavailable with Mitch Marsh again set to take the reins, while Temba Bavuma will lead South Africa just as he did when the sides met in the World Test Championship final a couple of months ago.
The teams should be more familiar with the conditions in Cairns after playing at the same venue three days ago, while they will head to Mackay for the remaining two games in the ODI series to be played on Friday and Sunday. The forecast is for sunny skies all afternoon and a high of 25C before it barely cools for the second stanza.
First ball will be at 2.30pm local time / AEST. The toss and team news will be coming up shortly. Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
