South Africa are delighted to celebrate winning both Test series in Australia, and now their ODI series finale. AB de Villiers’ revolutionary batting has transformed limited-overs cricket into an intense rivalry, creating new possibilities in limited overs cricket and making them much harder.
Kagiso Rabada’s pace and skill made an impressionful mark against Australian batsmen at Centurion, marking one of the biggest One Day International victories ever scored by South Africa against Australia in the South Africa National Cricket Team Vs Australian men‚Äôs Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
| # | Date | Format | Venue | South Africa Score | Australia Score | Result | Key Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025 | ODI | Johannesburg | 218/7 (50 overs) | 177/7 (50 overs) | SA won | Anrich Nortje 4-32, Quinton de Kock 50+ |
| 2 | 2025 | ODI | Visakhapatnam | 220/6 (50 overs) | 220/6 (50 overs) | Draw | Quinton de Kock 107, Corbin Bosch 4 runs finish |
| 3 | 2025 | ODI | Johannesburg | 276 all out | 431/7 | Australia won | Travis Head 100+, Cooper Connolly 5 wickets |
| 4 | 2025 | Test (Boxing Day) | MCG, Melbourne | 107-5 (14 overs) | 150/3 | Match ongoing / historic highlights | Dean Elgar 50, Zakaria Zampa key wickets |
| 5 | 2025 | Test | Centurion | 250 & 180 | 200 & 180 | SA won | Kagiso Rabada key bowling, AB de Villiers batting |
The Timeline
The South Africa national cricket team and Australia men’s cricket team rivalry is one of the strongest and most legitimate in international cricket, known for aggressive cricket with world-class fast bowlers and powerful batting lineups.
Australia dominated many early Test series but South Africa slowly developed an attacking facet to their game; Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Jacques Kallis as well as Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers are just a few names who have played prominently for both sides over their history.
The 2025 ODI was an exciting affair, yet a draw preserved South Africa’s pride during their difficult tour Down Under. Usman Khawaja’s elegant 137 helped Australia declare on a flat SCG deck, but Dean Elgar’s gritty 50 prevented a follow-on. There was then an outstanding moment in the 15th over when Zakaria Zampa bowled Dewald Brevis twice for maidens to seal the match and ensure its outcome.
Proteas enjoyed their first victory since returning to international cricket since their readmission, providing much-needed confidence boost ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup and Allan Donald’s return from injury, after missing last year’s tournament due to it.
An aggressive powerplay blitz from SA (80/1) set the scene while Quinton de Kock and Hendrik van der Dussen played significant roles in scoring SA 218/7 against Australia batting just 177/7; Anrich Nortje’s 4-32 attack tormented middle order batted Australia before Anrich Nortje’s 4-32 pace onslaught made Australia implode under pressure, leaving Anrich Nortje’s 4-32 to dominate and decimate Australia; nonetheless this matchup provided both team with much-needed moral support ahead of T20 World Cup 2026 T20 World Cup qualifying games against Pakistan on home soil against their arch rivals Australia; anrich Nortje took four wickets at pace and Tim David was vital contributor before Australia fell apart under pressure during this matchup; ultimately though South African pride was strengthened ruthfully defeated but morale-boosting defeat for South African cricket!
The Boxing Day Test
The Boxing Day Test is an annual cricket match held annually on Boxing Day (26 December) at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, usually featuring both Australian national cricket team and an opposing international touring side in white ball cricket format. It often marks the opening match in an ongoing series between both sides competing against each other.
The MCG was packed to capacity for this match with an attendance of 63,478 – the largest crowd to ever attend one Test match at the MCG.
South Africa reached 107-5 in their 14th over, with Brevis 36 runs and Mulder not out batting at backward point. Ellis produced some fantastic fielding from his own bowling, diving full length on his follow through, stopping one ball that would have struck de Zorzi out, then catching another in midair to prevent Brevis scoring four runs!
Australia are in trouble! Needing more than a run per ball now to stay within their overs, Green and Inglis are playing some fantastic shots that keep upping their required run-rate rate, and Ngidi manages a couple of timely boundary catches to put some distance between both teams.
The First ODI
The South Africa men’s national cricket team, commonly referred to as the Proteas, represents South Africa in international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa as an associate member of the International Cricket Council.
Their name derives from their country’s national flower, King Protea – named in their national anthem, Afrikaans song, flag and national anthem!
Their ODI/T20 shirts feature yellow accents with their King Protea badge while fielding hats feature either baseball caps with yellow lines around their visor borders or green sunhats depending on which hat style best suits them!
Due to rain and a slippery pitch, this match was reduced to 47 overs per side and Ireland batted first, with Sarah Forbes making 42 off 71 balls before falling victim to Sune Luus’ bowling; all other Irish batswomen scored less than 10 runs before it was called off.
South Africa produced an incredible innings and attack led by Charlie Llewellyn, Reggie Schwarz, and Kagiso Rabada that shocked everyone into believing they would lose. Their inspired display ensured they would maintain their Test status.
South Africa were eagerly anticipating a series win as part of their return as global cricket force, yet controversy dogged the series despite its promise. A particularly bizarre trophy presentation saw Proteas asked to celebrate an embarrassingly large margin win even though this was their largest-ever one-day international winning margin ever.
The Second ODI
South Africa first entered first-class and international cricket in 1888-89, and although their first teams weren’t up to par with those of England at that time, they gradually developed.
By the first decade of the 20th century they could regularly match or outshone England and Australia on the pitch; unfortunately due to apartheid policies implemented during that period an international ban by ICC in 1970 prevented most other teams from playing them until the mid 1980s.
South African batsmen dominated India early with some devastating hitting, led by Quinton de Kock’s 107 off 111 balls in his maiden ODI and an outstanding partnership of 101 between Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis that put them in control of proceedings. But a poor fielding performance allowed India to recover and even out the scores at Visakhapatnam’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium.
But South Africa’s superior bowling skills prevailed, and in a dramatic finish at the ground Corbin Bosch struck for four winning runs with four balls remaining to give South Africa a 1-1 series lead – thus maintaining their No.1 rank on ICC World ODI rankings.
South Africa have made another change to their squad ahead of Friday’s third ODI in Johannesburg when seamer Kwena Maphaka replaced injured opener Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen (back injury) and Luke Wright (concussion).
Pacer Aaron Hardie and all-rounder Cooper Connolly have both been left out due to fatigue considerations. South Africa are hoping to complete a clean sweep when they face each other again at Johannesburg Stadium on Friday.
The Third ODI
South Africa were determined not to let Australia deny them their moment of glory after two games had already gone their way in Australia, having already defeated Australia in a Test championship final and shown some outstanding play during ODIs.
Though lacking star power or major names on their squad, South Africa managed to put together something truly special; now having secured their first series win on Australian soil!
Succumbing to early wickets, South Africa quickly lost momentum as Australia quickly amassed their 431 run total. Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green all scored centuries while Alex Carey notched up fifty. Travis Head had his fifth century while Carey added 50.
As expected, South African bowlers were completely dismantled by an aggressive Australia attack. Sean Abbott and George Bartlett took wickets early in the powerplay to leave South Africa reeling; by match’s end Cooper Connolly (celebrating his 22nd birthday today!) took five wickets as South Africa suffered a 276-run loss.
As the match and series concluded, Kwena Maphaka was added as cover for Matthew Short who had been sidelined with flu-like symptoms and is therefore out for the remaining tour. After taking a short break they will travel back to England for three ODIs and three T20Is starting on September 2. Our coverage has come to a close – thank you so much for following along!
