Keshav Maharaj took a maiden 5-for as South Africa beat Australia by 98 runs in the first ODI at Cairns.
Mitchell Marsh won the toss at Cairns and opted to bowl first. Both sides were looking to plan ahead, with a few key names out of the picture in this format. The Proteas handed ODI debuts to big-hitting phenom Dewald Brevis and offspinning allrounder Prenelan Subrayen.
On a relatively slower pitch, openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton got off to a steady start, but Markram soon found his groove after a quieter first 5 overs. They added 92 runs between them, and a solid platform was set.
Rickelton managed to survive a couple of close calls, but Travis Head’s part-time offspin had the last word. A lofted cover drive went straight to wide mid-off, and the hosts got their first breakthrough. However, Markram continued to impress with composed strokeplay all around the ground.
The stylish right-hander was approach the precipice of a potential 4th ODI ton, but edged behind off Ben Dwarshuis, giving Australia a second wicket.
Bavuma and Breetzke were excellent in the middle overs, scoring 92 as a pair, Breetzke scoring 57 off 56 balls.
Beetzke top-edged a slog sweep to deep forward square, as SA were reduced to 223-3.
Stubbs and Brevis both went big against Head from ball one, the former out for a duck and Brevis out after a maximum.
South Africa at this point looked stagnant, but Bavuma brought up a half-century taking his side to 266, but he was bowled by Dwarshuis after 65 off 74 balls in the 46th over.
It was now all about adding as many runs as possible.
Wiaan Mulder (31 off 26 balls) put in a decent cameo at the end of the innings, finishing off with a maximum, taking South Africa to 296-8.
Out of 11 innings played at the ground, this was now the highest total, beating the 267-5 scored by Australia against New Zealand (11 September 2022).
Australia had a solid start to their innings, dominating South Africa’s pace bowlers and cruising to 60-0.
Seven overs in Bavuma turned to his spinners, and they flipped the game into South Africa’s favour.
Debutant Prenelen Subrayen orchestrated the stumping of Travis Head and what followed was purely World Class.
Maharaj took 4 wickets in 16 balls, starting with trapping Marnus Labuschagne lbw, bowling Cameron Green, bowling Josh Inglis and trapping Alex Carey lbw.
Australia went from 60-0 in 7 overs to 75-5 in 12.3 overs.
In the 16th over Maharaj completed his 1st ODI five-for, bowling Aaron Hardie, Australia were now in trouble on 89-6.
Australia remained resilient. Dwarshuis stuck around with Marshall and scored 33 to take the hosts to 160 in 32 overs when Burger dismissed him.
Marsh stood as the gatekeeper to victory. His 88 off 96 balls took Australia to 174, but he edged a short delivery from Burger looking for a pull shot.
Australia were now 174-8.
It took a little bit of time for SA to strike again, and despite a difficult time with the ball, Ngidi dismissed Ellis lbw. The replay showed the ball was missing leg, but Australia had no reviews left.
Ngidi then wrapped things up by bowling Zampa, and Australia were all out for 198.
South Africa won by 98 runs.
