South Africa v Australia: first men’s cricket one-day international - live

Preamble

Martin Pegan

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first one-day international between South Africa and Australia in Durban. This the first of three ODIs between the old foes as they take tentative steps down a long path towards the Cricket World Cup to be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in little more than 12 months’ time.

But as much as the attention is now on a rare 50-over series in South Africa, and further ahead to the celebration of cricket that is expected for the continent next year, there is no denying the Test series that waits just around the corner is as much front of mind for both sides as well as their fans.

Australia usually time their run to hit top white-ball form for World Cup stages but started to tune up when sweeping a three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe. But South Africa have had a stranglehold on ODI series against their rivals, winning the past five at home and away going back a decade to September 2016. That includes when Australia and South Africa last played an ODI series just over a year ago when the tourists won the opening two games in Cairns and Mackay. Australia claimed a consolation win when scoring 431-2 – their second-highest ODI total, behind their 434-4 against South Africa in that remarkable game 19 years ago. We can only dream of similar fireworks in Durban today.

Toss and confirmed teams will be coming up shortly – with the first ball to be bowled at 10am in Durban / 6pm AEST – so you have time to get in touch with your thoughts and predictions. Drop me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X.

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