3RD ODI , AUSTRALIA Vs SOUTH AFRICA , MACKAY 2025 HIGHLIGHTS : Super Hundreds From Head, Marsh And Green Gained A Massive Win Against South Africa And Saved Australia From Clean Sweep .
The hosts cleaned out South Africa for 155 and won the third and final ODI of the three-match series by 276 runs. On an imposing target of 432, the Proteas could not even get anywhere along the line and suffered a heavy defeat. But they won the three-match series 2-1. Earlier, Camron Green and Travis Head smashed blazing hundreds as Australia posted 431/2 in 50 overs against South Africa in the third ODI in Mackay. Batting first, Australia had a cracking start to the innings as the openers Head and Mitchell Marsh notched up a 250-run partnership. Head made 142 and Marsh 100. Cameron Green then hit an unbeaten 118 off 56 balls for a mammoth total. Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy took a wicket each for the Proteas. Super Hundreds From Head, Marsh And Green Gained A Massive Win Against South Africa And Saved Australia From Clean Sweep .
TOSS-
Australia won the toss and chose to bat.
PLAYING XI-
Australia Squad:
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
South Africa Squad:
Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kwena Maphaka
AUSTRALIA-
The platform for Australia’s consolation win was laid in Mackay, however, after Mitchell Marsh won the toss. His partner at the top clipped Kwena Maphaka for a four off the first ball. It set Australia on course for a 250-run opening partnership — their fourth highest — in just 34.1 overs. Head was the aggressor at the other end, hammering 142 from a mere 103 balls – his first international century since 2024. Marsh mostly played within himself, but while he matched his partner for sixes hit – five – he reached his hundred in a more sedate 106 balls.
South Africa are already without Kagiso Rabada who was ruled out with injury. With the series in the bag, they rested Lungi Ngidi, and the lack of experience in the attack was clear. Teenager Kwena Maphaka went for 73 off six overs and Wiaan Mulder conceded 93 off seven. Only Keshav Maharaj – introduced as soon as the fifth over -stood up to be counted and he emerged as the sole bowler on parade with an economy less than six.
Maharaj further broke the opening partnership when Head failed to clear the long-off fielder. The dismissal itself ended the strong start by the opening batsmen. South Africa actually expected some relief, but Green definitely launched a more aggressive attack after being promoted in the batting order. Marnus Labuschagne actually ranks fourth in the current batting order. The top three batsmen are definitely performing better than him in recent matches. Further, marsh surely got out for exactly 100 runs when he played a poor slog-sweep shot against Senuran Muthusamy. Moreover, Alex Carey then joined Green to continue their aggressive batting attack.
Basically, Green scored his 50 runs in just 28 balls during the same Maphaka over that went for 20 runs. Basically, the young fast bowler dropped a simple catch at deep square leg when Carey pulled Bosch’s slower ball the same direction. Carey did not create as much trouble as Green himself, who further hit Muthusamy for three sixes in a row. Green surely reached the nineties after hitting two more sixes off Mulder’s bowling. Moreover, he completed his century just seven balls slower than Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball hundred against the Netherlands in 2023. Green scored 118 runs off 55 balls as per the match records, regarding his innings which included six fours and eight sixes.
SOUTH AFRICA-
Moreover, as per the match situation, South Africa’s chances of becoming the first team to whitewash Australia in ODIs at home ended when they collapsed to 50 for 4 while chasing. The team lost their remaining hopes regarding this historic achievement after the early batting failure. Moreover, as per the match details, Aiden Markram got out early to Sean Abbott. Regarding South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma, Abbott also dismissed him after Bavuma hit four boundaries and scored 19 runs from 10 balls. The chase had only one fighting partnership when Dewald Brevis and Tony de Zorzi scored 57 runs in just 32 balls. This stand itself was the main resistance in the match, but it could not take the team further to victory. Basically, the batsman was saved when Cooper Connolly couldn’t collect the ball properly to complete the same run-out.
But we are seeing no such mistakes when Connolly was bowling, who first got out de Zorzi and then took wickets of the lower order batsmen to make the best record for any Australian spinner in ODI cricket. He actually became only the second left-arm spinner from Australia to take five wickets in an ODI match. The last time this happened was definitely 21 years ago when Michael Clarke took 5 for 35 in Dambulla.
Actually, the brief scores show the match results clearly. Teams definitely scored these runs in their innings.
Australia surely dominated South Africa with a massive 276-run victory, posting 431/2 in their 50 overs through centuries from Travis Head (142), Cameron Green (118\*), and Mitchell Marsh (100). Moreover, South Africa collapsed to just 155 runs in 24.5 overs despite Dewald Brevis’s 49, as Cooper Connolly claimed five wickets for 22 runs.