Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI Full Commentary

Welcome back, folks. We have a really interesting run chase on the cards in Durban. Bavuma leads his troops out as the South African players take their respective fielding spots. Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are the two Australian openers, with 'The Bison' taking the strike. The towering figure of Marco Jansen is ready to steam in with the new ball. A couple of slips in place. Here we go...

... The Run Chase ...

Who has the advantage? Plenty would back South Africa, and it's easy to see why. They dragged themselves out of a stuttering start and finished with real authority. But the pitch has a say here too. The same surface that made batting a grind early on kept easing as the innings wore on, and Australia will fancy their chances of making the most of it. South African bowling attack, already thinned up on experience due to injuries, has their work cut out now. A very delicious run chase is on the cards, folks. Stay tuned.

The centurion speaks - Matthew Breetzke starts by thanking God for allowing him to play for South Africa. He says that when you are playing the Aussies, it always gets your juices flowing, as they are one of the best teams in the world, and he likes to play against big teams. Breetzke mentions that having a clear role from the coaching staff and adapting to the conditions have been key to his consistency in this format. He explains that with them losing early wickets on a tricky surface, his focus was on building partnerships and settling the innings before eventually finding his rhythm. Breetzke highlights his partnership with Marco Jansen, saying the pair have put together several valuable stands over the past year and tend to bring the best out of each other. He adds that Jansen was a little quiet at the start of their partnership, but encouraged him to simply play his game, with the all-rounder eventually producing a special innings. Asked whether South Africa's 297 is enough, Breetzke says he hopes it will be. He believes the new ball could offer something for the bowlers and stresses the importance of making early inroads before looking to build pressure through the middle overs.

Breetzke-Jansen's rescue act - Through all of it, Breetzke was the constant, well-paced and calm as he anchored one end while wickets fell around him. He had stands with Bavuma, Rickelton and Miller, but none of his partners could turn a start into a big score, and Australia kept cutting each stand short. That changed when Jansen walked out. Breetzke finally found an able ally, and the caution of the earlier stands gave way to positive, aggressive strokeplay. Breetzke went on to a well-deserved century. Jansen, too, got off to a fifty of his own, and their superb 107-run partnership was the stand South Africa had been chasing all innings, swinging the momentum firmly back in their favour.

Partnerships made and broken - Bavuma and Breetzke steadied things from there. They kept the risk low, played the percentages and picked up the odd boundary as the pitch eased a touch under the heat. Just as the stand began to look properly threatening, Zampa stepped in and ended it. When Breetzke and Rickelton started building again, Zampa broke that stand too, and South Africa found themselves rebuilding once more from 125/4. Ellis then came back for another important intervention, ending a 43-run partnership between Breetzke and Miller and keeping the Proteas on their toes.

Slow surface, early strikes - Runs were hard to come by in the opening overs. The surface was slow and tacky, and strokeplay turned into a chore. Starc and Hazlewood set the tone with disciplined lines, giving the batters nothing to hit freely, and Australia landed two early blows. Hazlewood and Ellis removed both openers, leaving the Proteas stuttering at 40/2 after the Powerplay.

Excellent recovery - At one point, South Africa looked unlikely to bat out their full 50 overs, but here they are. Australia have managed to keep them under 300, but they won't be that pleased with their bowling efforts. Starc went wicketless and conceded more than he would have liked, while Zampa claimed two crucial wickets but was not quite at his best either. Ellis and Hazlewood were the pick of the bowlers who kept things tight in their spells. But the headline belonged to Breetzke. His sensational century, coupled with a crucial partnership with Jansen, pulled South Africa out of trouble and gave their innings an ascendancy.

Bjorn Fortuin is the new batter in at number 9 and will face the final ball of the innings. Can he hit a boundary to get South Africa to 300? He is no mug with the bat either.

Righto, time for the final over of the first innings. Jack Edwards (9-0-48-0) will wrap it up. Gerald Coetzee is the new batter in at number 9.

That was actually a very well-bowled over from Edwards. No boundaries conceded. Australia, though, have been penalised for a slow-over rate. They will have to keep an extra fielder inside the ring for the remainder of the innings. Nathan Ellis will bowl the penultimate over. 2/46 in 9 overs.

Breetzke is received with a warm round of applause from his teammates and the crowd alike. Truly a knock worth remembering. Corbin Bosch is in at number 8, with 16 balls remaining in the innings.

The battle moves to Johannesburg - That brings us to the end of an entertaining contest, with South Africa taking an early lead in the series. They will now look to seal it in the next game, while Australia will be aiming to level things up. The 2nd ODI takes place at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, 27 September, with the match being played as the 'Pink ODI'. South Africa will wear their pink kit to raise awareness for breast cancer. The action begins at 8 am GMT, but make sure to join us early for all the build-up. Until then, cheers and goodbye!

The victorious skipper of South Africa - Temba Bavuma says it is very satisfying, and he credits both the batters and the bowlers for a good overall effort. Looking back at the first 10 overs of both innings, he says Australia managed to put South Africa under pressure early, but the batting unit still got to a competitive score on that wicket. With the ball, he adds, the team stuck to their task and ended up on the right side of the result. On his expectations coming into the game, Bavuma says his first hope was to win the toss, because he knew it would be tough for the batting unit. Explains that they had to adapt to the conditions, with Australia hitting Test lengths, but the side fought and stayed in the game. He singles out Breetzke for showing tremendous character, something the whole group appreciates, and says Jansen's punches down the order took them to a good total. When Australia came to chase, Bavuma adds, they piled on the pressure too, which is exactly what South Africa expects from a team like them. The challenge, he says, was to keep the body language positive and wait for the opportunities to turn the game their way. On being asked about the two spinners (Maharaj and Fortuin) who bowled so well, Bavuma admits the group probably lacks a bit of experience at this level. But he says they make up for it with a strong desire to do it for the team, and they are hungry to perform. Says having Keshav in the spin department helps the attack, and Fortuin brings a wealth of experience too, so the two balance each other out. All in all, he says, they managed it quite well.

The captain of Australia - Mitchell Marsh says they are disappointed after feeling they were outplayed, admitting they fell well short despite making a strong start to the chase. He notes that they scored around 100 runs in the first 10 overs, but were unable to build on that platform. Marsh says South Africa's approach was largely expected, with the hosts building their innings before accelerating in the final 10-15 overs. He credits Breetzke and Jansen for batting particularly well, adding that the short boundary made them difficult to bowl to. Marsh says they tried to push for extra wickets but could not quite make the breakthrough they needed. Reflecting on the collapse, Marsh says they managed to bring the required rate down and knew partnerships would be crucial from there. He identifies Maharaj and Fortuin as key threats but admits Australia were unable to execute their plans consistently enough. He adds that the defeat provides a valuable learning opportunity ahead of the second game, where they will look to apply those lessons and level the series. Looking ahead to the next game, Marsh says he is unsure how the wicket in Johannesburg is playing these days, having not played there for some time. However, he expects the ball to travel well and jokes that, as someone who no longer bowls, it will be nice to head out there as a batter.

Presentation Time...

Spinners turn the game - Most teams might have lost hope after the way South Africa started with the ball, but not the hosts. They kept believing, and Keshav Maharaj provided the first breakthrough before the Proteas steadily took control. The spinners were outstanding through the middle overs, squeezing the scoring and picking up wickets, with Maharaj adding two more to his tally and Bjorn Fortuin claiming two as well. Corbin Bosch also took two, while Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen chipped in with one apiece. Jansen's stunning catch to dismiss Matt Renshaw all but sealed the game, before Maharaj fittingly returned to wrap things up, with Matthew Breetzke taking the final catch to cap a memorable day for the hosts.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Matthew Breetzke wins the award for his fantastic hundred, scoring 112 off 106 balls. When Pommie Mbangwa asks whether he has had a moment to reflect on his innings, Breetzke says he honestly has not, not yet. He says he would rank his innings right up there. He points to how tricky things were early on, with wickets falling at the other end against a world-class attack. Says that left him no choice but to dig deep. It drained him mentally, he admits, but he is grateful to have made the hundred and batted through to the end. On the discussions with his teammates about the conditions, Breetzke shares that the message was to stay nice and straight. Highlights that this was a surface that punished anyone playing too square, and a couple of batters found that out through leading edges. On the partnership with Jansen and whether there was a talk about him (Jansen) taking on the attack, Breetzke says it was not a set plan, more a case of the big man being at his best. Details that Jansen got one away early, kept riding the momentum, and that he (Breetzke) was happy to feed him the strike. When he is asked about batting at number four and bringing up a hundred from there, Breetzke says he has been in the role for the last year or so and is settling into it now. The celebration, he adds, was more about how tough the early going was, because he had to fight his way out of it.

Breetzke's ton powers South Africa - Earlier in the game, South Africa posted a competitive 297, led by a magnificent century from Matthew Breetzke. He held the innings together after the early wickets, building key partnerships with Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton and David Miller before sharing a 107-run stand with Marco Jansen, who blasted 75 to match his highest ODI score. Australia had a mixed outing with the ball, with Nathan Ellis leading the way with three wickets, Adam Zampa taking two and Josh Hazlewood one, but they would have wanted a more clinical effort overall.

A stunning collapse from Australia - Australia came flying out of the blocks, with Mitchell Marsh dealing almost exclusively in boundaries and Travis Head joining in as they raced to 50 inside six overs. Marsh then brought up a fantastic 26-ball fifty, but the opening stand was broken at 90 and the momentum began to shift after the 10-over mark. Head and Cooper Connolly steadied things and kept the asking rate under control, but neither could convert their starts. From 129/1, Australia slipped to 156/4 as questionable shot selection brought the middle order undone. The flying start had kept them ahead of the required rate for much of the chase, but Matt Renshaw found little support around him. Once he fell for a fighting 44, the writing was on the wall, and Australia were eventually bowled out for 230 with more than eight overs to spare.

Proteas flip the script - South Africa have pulled off a memorable victory to take a 1-0 lead in the series, and what a fightback this has been. At one stage, Australia looked firmly in control and seemed ready to run away with the game, but the Proteas simply refused to go down. They clawed their way back, turned the momentum on its head and finished with a crushing victory. A complete team performance from South Africa, while the Aussies will be left wondering how they let a game that looked so firmly in their grasp slip away.

South Africa just one step away from taking a 1-0 lead in the series. This is a massive nosedive for the Aussies as they slip from 129/1 to 230/9. Josh Hazlewood is the last man in for Australia.

Powerplay 3! Now, five fielders are allowed outside the inner ring till the end of the game. However, South Africa will want to keep more catching fielders to wrap things up here.

Keshav Maharaj comes back into the attack. South Africa going for the kill now.