South Africa staged a sensation turnaround in Durban on Thursday, overcoming Australia by 67 runs in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Asked to bat, South Africa were guided to a fighting total of 297/8, with Matthew Breetzke leading the assault with a maiden ODI century on home soil. Breetzke's impressive 112 off 106 balls provided South Africa a much-needed boost after their top order collapsed without making much of a contribution.
Ever dependable Marco Jansen also played a massive role, scoring a powerful 75-run knock. Chasing the target, Australia got a promising start following Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head’s contributions of 60 and 36 respectively. The match appeared to be slipping away from the Proteas, but a memorable comeback on the back of Keshav Maharaj’s brilliant spell pushed Australia aside.
Keshav Maharaj returned with four key wickets to cripple Australia’s batting attack. Though there was fightback from Cooper Connolly scoring 38 and Matt Renshaw adding 44, Australia struggled to find the consistency that cost them the match. Corbin Bosch and Bjorn Fortuin also shared two wickets each.