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ODI series offers Proteas immediate redemption v Australia

cricket18 August 2025 09:30| © MWP
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Temba Bavuma © Gallo Images

South Africa’s three-match ODI series against Australia starts at the Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns on Tuesday before concluding at the Barrier Reef Oval in Mackay on Friday and Sunday. It offers the Proteas a quick shot at redemption after narrowly losing the deciding match in the T20 International series at the same venue on Saturday.

Glenn Maxwell, whose calmness in the final overs of the run chase helped Australia to two-wicket victory off the penultimate delivery to take the series 2-1, will not be around to inflict further damage having retired from the 50-over format while South Africa have five fresh faces and have retained Kwena Maphaka in a 16-man squad for the series.

Bavuma hasn’t played a competitive match since the final of the World Test Championship but has not been idle at home having embarked on a lengthy tour of the country with the WTC mace as well as working on his fitness after tearing his hamstring during the final at Lord’s.

“It’s been a busy time at home becoming accustomed to all the appreciation there is among fans for our success at Lord’s, but the time away from the game has also allowed me to get the body strong again, but I’m fully fit now, looking forward to the games ahead and raring to go again,” Bavuma said on Monday.

“Dewald Brevis was obviously the talking point (during the T20 series) so I’m looking forward to seeing what he does in the one-day stuff and also getting to know young guys like Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Kwena was excellent in the T20s so he’s been added to the ODI squad and Prenelan Subrayen is there too. Like the T20 series, it’s a bit of an exploration to see where guys can fit in and what our best XI looks like,” Bavuma said.

One decision has been made – the captain will not be opening the batting with the T20 combination of Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton remaining at the top of the order with Bavuma set to come in at No 3: “We’ll keep them together in all formats and see how that goes. It’s not much of a change for me but I’ll make whatever adjustments I need to,” Bavuma said.

The scheduled Champions Trophy match between the teams was washed out in Pakistan earlier this year which means the last time the teams met in a 50-over contest was the World Cup semifinal in Kolkata almost two years ago: “That feels very, very far away now,” Bavuma smiled.

“There isn’t much you need to say about a fixture between these two teams, it is always very competitive. But it’s also good to be outside in the sunshine playing at a beautiful ground – which is also a bit bigger than I’m accustomed to so there’s going to be a lot of running in the outfield. But the weather is a lot better than in Johannesburg at the moment.”

One of the ‘new’ faces in the ODI squad is veteran spinner Keshav Maharaj who was available for selection for the shortest format and remains hopeful of forcing his way back into contention for the T20 World Cup next year:

“Shuks wants to try some different things. He hasn’t closed the door on me so hopefully I can filter back into his plans,” Maharaj said before confirming that the 2027 50-over World Cup is also very much on his radar.

“It’s a big target for me, I love playing ODI cricket and what better way to represent your country than by playing in a home World Cup. Hopefully we can carry some of the momentum we’ve built up over the last two years into that tournament, winning the World Test Championship and also reaching the knockout stages of two World Cups,” Maharaj said.

“This tour is an opportunity to try combinations so that, by next year, the coach will have a clearer understanding of the 2027 squad landscape. This a wonderful opportunity for the players and for Shuks to identify the style of play and who he wants for the World Cup squads.”

SA ODI SQUAD: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma (captain), Dewald Brevis, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tristan Stubbs, Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Wiaan Mulder, Prenelan Subrayen, Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, Nandre Burger, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka.

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