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Head, Green, Connolly crush Proteas in third ODI

football24 August 2025 10:52| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
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Australia scored three centuries in a one-day international for the first time in a total of 431-2 before dismissing South Africa for a meagre 155 to win the third and final match against South Africa by a comprehensive, record 276-runs at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay on Sunday.

A stunning century from Travis Head (142) and a less dramatic one from captain Mitch Marsh (100) laid the platform for a massive Australian score of 431-2 after choosing to bat first in the final one-day international against South Africa at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay on Sunday.

Not content with two centuries, Cameron Green added a third for the hosts and it was the most dramatic of the trio coming from a mere 47 balls with five fours and seven sixes. Twice in the final overs Green refused a single in the company of Alex Carey in order to hit more sixes – and did exactly that.

Green finished unbeaten on 118 from only 55 balls with six fours and eight sixes while Carey scrambled two off the final ball to finish on 50 not out from 37 balls with seven fours.

Only Dewald Brevis offered any serious fight during the run-chase with five sixes and two fours in his 49 from just 28 balls after the tourists had crashed to 50-4. Sean Abbott and Xavier Bartlett shared the first four wickets with Aiden Markram (20 caught at slip, Ryan Rickelton (11) clipping to square leg, Temba Bavuma (19) bowled and Tristan Stubbs (1) caught at cover.

Left arm spinner Cooper Connolly (5-22) mopped up the second half of the innings with a maiden five-wicket haul courtesy of three boundary catches including a stunning, diving effort from Marnus Labuschagne, and a stumping against Keshav Maharaj.

It was a torrid afternoon for South Africa’s bowlers with Kwena Maphaka and Wiaan Mulder sharing the new balls in the absence of the rested Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger. The tone was set in the first six overs which cost an eye-watering 63 runs.

Head was in rampant form after modest returns from the first five matches against the tourists in the T20I series and the first two ODIs cutting and driving with ferocity against all of South Africa’s seamers collecting 17 fours and five sixes in his 142 from just 103 balls before finally holing out to Brevis at long off against Maharaj.

Marsh, happy to feed the strike to Head throughout their partnership, reached his own century from 105 balls with six fours and five sixes before top-edging a slog-sweep against left arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy to ‘keeper Ryan Rickelton.

Maharaj was the only bowler to escape the savage beating with 1-57 from his 10 overs while Corbin Bosch was, ironically, excellent in the final dozen overs conceding ‘only’ 46 runs from six overs to finish with figures of 10-0-68-0.

It was an innings to forget, however, for Mulder (7-0-93-0) and Maphaka (6-0-73-0) while Markram (8-0-60-0) and Muthusamy (9-0-75-1) did their best to stem the flow of runs.

It was Australia’s second highest score in ODI cricket behind the 434 they scored against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg in 2005. That was a game they lost – this time there was never remotely a chance of that happening.

South Africa won the first game of the series in Cairns by 98-runs and the second, in Mackay on Friday, by 84-runs to clinch the series.

The Proteas head straight to London from Mackay via Brisbane, Sydney and Perth where they will play England in another three-match ODI series starting next Tuesday followed by another T20 International series.

AUSTRALIA: Mitch Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis (wkt), Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa.

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wkt), Temba Bavuma, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kwena Maphaka.

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