Mitchell Marsh: “Will probably be a bit cold to field later,” he jokes. “Looks a great wicket.”
Temba Bavuma says he might have batted first. Thinks the wicket looks dry. “We don’t really play much cricket this time of the year,” he says of conditions
Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI Highlights 2023, Thursday 7-9-2023, Australia tour of South Africa 2023, Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein.
Toss: Australia win the toss and bowl.
Australia team: 1 Travis Head, 2 David Warner, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Ashton Agar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa
South Africa team: 1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Gerald Coetzee, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada
Head to Head In ODI’s: 103
Australia Won: 48
South Africa Won: 51
Australia ODI Rankings: 2nd
South Africa ODI Rankings: 6th
Form guide
(last five completed ODI’s, most recent first)
Australia WWLWW
South Africa WWWL
Match Timings: 11:00 AM GMT | 1:00 PM Local
Umpires – Allahudien Paleker, Richard Kettleborough
TV Umpire – Nitin Menon
Match Referee – Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Bongani Jele
Match number – ODI no. 4635
Temba Bavuma:
Not a high-scoring match you expect here. We were a few runs short but gave ourselves a chance. We lost the ability to create chances, they played well. Marnus coming in as a sub held things together for them. Conversations to be had about our batting and bowling. Interesting day today. Pitch wasn’t easy. At night, it started to skid on and play a lot more fluently. During the day, we found it tricky.
They bowled well, not allowing cuts or drives. I tried to battle through, found nothing fluent about my innings. It helped batting with guys like Klaasen, Markram who egged me on and made me more aware what the bigger picture was. Marnus took the opportunities he got early on and stabilised. Not the first time he came on as a concussion sub, things worked in their favour. Need to take learnings from today and come out better on Saturday.
Mitchell Marsh:
Gutsy win, boys are unbelievable. We lost a few wickets early on, showed plenty of intent, which I was happy with, to play without fear. We were lucky with Marnus coming in and taking us over the line. Marnus is the perfect man for that job. He gives it everything regardless of when he’s coming, tonight’s was a class innings. Four games to go, would be nice to keep winning. We bowled well, used the conditions to out benefit. (On Marnus’ WC selection) Luckily, I’m just a stand-in skipper. I don’t have to make those decisions.
Marnus Labuschagne, POTM:
What a rollercoaster! It’s a strange thing. My mum was adamant last night I was playing today. I said, “I’m not in the team.” Just got some weird thing that happens around concussions. I’ve been disappointed with how I’ve played ODIs in the last 10-12 games. I tried to right some wrongs – certain things to improve against spin and pace. Didn’t have the pressure last night of laying in bed and thinking about my batting.
Nice that it all came together. Unbelievable partnership with Agar. I was impressed with him staying calm, we waited for South Africa to start searching and open the game up. Selection for the WC is not my job. My job is just to do whatever I can for the team to win. Whatever happens there is out of my control, but I’m happy with the win. Made it special today that my mum hung around even though I wasn’t playing. Happy to have my family, support I get here is overwhelmingly.
