The Australia Tour of South Africa officially commenced with a victory for the Proteas team on Thursday September 24, 2026. The match was played at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, South Africa. The South Africa men’s cricket team won the first match by 67 runs after the loss of 8 wickets.
The toss was won by the Australian team and Captain Mitchell Marsh decided to go for bowling first. The South Africa team scored 297 runs for a loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs. Moreover, the player of the Match title was secured by South African player Matthew Breetzke, who scored 112 runs in 106 balls.
Quinton De Kock and Tony De Zorzi opened the innings for the South African cricket team. De Kock scored 14 runs and De Zorzi lost his wicket after contributing no runs to the team’s total. After the dismissal of De Zorzi, Captain Temba Bavuma came to the crease and scored 30 runs in 48 balls including he hit four 4s. After the loss of the second wicket, Matthew Breetzke performed outstandingly and hit fourteen boundaries and two maximums.
Breetzke also contributed the highest runs in the final score for the South Africa team. He lost his wickets in a run out by the Australian wicket keeper Josh Inglis. Other players who contributed to the final score of the South Africa’s team were Ryan Rickelton, who made 27 runs in 26 balls, David Miller who contributed 9 runs in 25 balls, Marco Jansen scored 75 runs in 59 balls, Corbin Bosch contributed 9 runs in 6 balls, Gerald Coetzee made 6 runs in 4 balls, finally, Bjorn Fortuin added another run in the final ball.
After the South Africa team innings Australia Captain Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head opened the innings for the Australia Team. South Africa bowled out the Australia team in the 41st over of the match with a score of 230 runs. Keshav Maharaj claimed the highest number of wickets of the Kangaroos, 4. Corbin Bosch and Bjorn Fortuin both dismissed two wickets each.
Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee both dismissed the 1 wickets each of the Australian players. Notably, the 2nd ODI match is scheduled to take place on Sunday September 27, 2026 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.