Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI Highlights: Keshav Maharaj takes 5 as SA defeat AUS by 98 runs, take 1-0 lead in series

AAAND IT'S ANOTHER GONE. Ngidi strikes Ellis's pads and it's been given. No reviews left for australia so he can't even send it upstairs. Looked to be missing leg but luck is on the Proteas' side.

Nathan Ellis lbw b Ngidi 14(20)

Ellis and Zampa are currently holding fort for Australia. Zampa starts witha boundary and almost gives away a catch to Stubbs!!! But he can't get hold of it before Ngidi tries a slower which the batter misses.

AUS 185/8 after 39 overs 

AAAND SOUTH AFRICA GET THE BIG WICKET OF MARSH. WEll directed bouncer from Burger, Marsh swings, gets a faint edge and that's gone into the gloves of the keeper. 

Mitchell Marsh c Rickelton b Nandre Burger 88(96)

South Africa needs to be more ruthless here. Although they have had a dominating period through the middle overs, they have lost a bit of steam since Maharaj is done. Once the team gets into the tail, they need to run through the lower order. Although South Africa has the personnel with the ball, the field set from Bavuma right from ball one has been quite conservative.

Well, Nandre Burger has finally picked up the wicket. It was a bit on the slower side and a half-hearted bumper which, to be fair to Dwarshuis, should have been punished for a boundary; however, he ended up at mid-wicket, that is, Australia seven down. It did start to give a bit of hope to Australia, but not to be.,

Since Maharaj is done, it does seem like South Africa has lost a bit of sting out of their attack. Bavuma has brought in Nandre Burger, and he has bowled quite quickly, to be fair to him, but unfortunately, he could not trouble the batters. He has been quite hittable with tail at his disposal, he would be hoping to scalp a few and add to his wickets tally.

This is turning into a nice partnership between Dwarshuis and Marsh here. Most importantly, they have ridden out the difficult spell of Keshav Maharaj, and now it will be interesting to see how Temba Bavuma will rotate his bowlers. He is yet to use the services of Wiaan Mulder who is a handy bowler. 

After that crazy passage of wickets, things have come to a bit of a halt here. Ben Dwarshuis has defended nicely and is supporting well. Marsh, on the other end, has also been quite happy to give Dwarshuis the responsibility or the chance to get into his innings here and why not? There is still a long way to go if they are looking at the runs to chase down.

Mitchell Marsh has got to his half-century here. It has been a superb knock for him but he would have hoped other batters with him would have stepped up more. Maharaj, with five wickets now, is running the show although there has been some lovely bowling, but also Australian batters have been opened up technically time and again through the evening.

Maharaj picked up his five-wicket haul here. Aaron Hardie, right from the moment he walked into the middle he looked like a cat on a hot tin roof, and eventually he perished. He continuously played on the backfoot and one gripped and turned away to take the off-stump of Hardie. It does seem like it will take something out of the ordinary for Australia to win this game from here on.

Spin has turned the game on its head here. Given the bashing seamers were taking early on, it was a bit of a brave call from Temba Bavuma to bring in his spinners early on, and they did deliver. Maharaj especially is getting a bit of turn altough dew will play its part later what South Africa has done here is before it sets in they have brought in spinners and both are setttled into nice rhythms putting the pressure on batters.

Maharaj has got two more since our last update. First, it was Cameron Green who was looking to drive the ball and was lured more and more forward and eventually the batter missed the delivery as it pitched and turned away to hit the off-stump. And then it was Jos Inglis, and was trying to cut off the back foot lost his stumps. As we update, Maharaj has picked up his third wicket in Carey.

Marnus's stay has been a short one. Bavuma turned to Keshav Maharaj early in the piece, and a magnificent delivery from Maharaj. The ball pitched on the middle and leg and drifted away from Marnus, who was beaten in the air, and it was plumb in front. South Africa has pulled back in this game. Australia needs a partnership here.

South Africa has turned to spin Subrayen, and he does the damage. Travis Head danced down the track, and the ball kept a tad bit low, and keeper Rickelton does the rest of the job. That is a huge relief for South Africa as both these players will be taking the game away from them. Marnus Labuschagne has walked into the middle.

Well, Head smacked five boundaries of Nandre Burger in that last over. Australia is flying here. Not having slip from the very opening over is kind of an odd move from Temba Bavuma especially when he has someone like Burger who can seam the ball. The pitch has definitely become better for batting and at this stage, it does seem like Marsh made the right call.

This is a contrasting start to what we have seen in the first innings. Both Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton were a lot more cautious with their approach; however, both Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are taking the attacking route. This is how the Indian side and Australian side like to approach this format of the game: go hard in the first 10 and then, once the pressure is on the opposition, ease through the middle overs.

Nandre Burger has started bowling for South Africa here. There is not much of a moment for him on offer, and Travis Head did clobber one through covers. Lungi Ngidi has come into the attack from the other end. Interestingly, Temba Bavuma has decided not to have a slip here. Under lights, the new ball tends to nibble a bit.

Yeah, nice total. Ideally probably would have wanted to get to that 320-mark but it got really tough out there as the wicket got a bit slow. We would have taken that at the start for sure. (Satisfied with his own batting?) No, wanted to hit more to be honest. It was quite slow, I got in and found my rhythm and managed to get myself out. It's been a long time (batting at the top in the ODIs), generally a good place to bat. It has worked out alright and in the middle order, we've got some really good players. I like our spin twins playing this game. If there's no dew, they could play a big role. Great opportunity for Nandre and Lungi to do his thing. Backing all of them.

I don't know (if he knew he would be bowling so many overs), it was probably in the bingo card this morning, the wicket was a bit slow and they perhaps needed my spin. Looks like a slow wicket, so the batting PP will be the time to score, me and Mitch (Marsh) must start well, the older ball could be a bit tougher to score runs, need to build partnerships and chase this score down.

Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram(w), Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi

Well, that is a score both sides will be happy with. South Africa could have got more, but the wicket got tougher and tougher to bat in the final 10. Australia, on the other hand, will be pretty happy with the way they have been able to pull off things. It is going to be a fascinating chase. Do join us in the 2nd innings.

Australia has scalped two more wickets in that over. First, it was Keshav Maharaj who tried to force the issue against Head and was caught, and then it was debutant Subrayen who was run out at the non-striker end.

Well, the first observation of only one ball being used after 34 overs is that hitting is only going to get harder if there are not enough wickets in the hand or if batting line-ups are not long enough. Unlike before, were batters could clear the bowling from ball one, things will be altered now. We might see a consistent dip in run rates in the final overs, which might be even more prominent in subcontinent.

South Africa needs to be looking to get around 320 from here. It is playing a bit on the slower side, however, the sun is already dipping here, and the conditions have been quite supportive to dew. And it is quite an early cricket season in Australia, we might see a bit of that in the second innings. On the flip side South African bowlers will get a bit of swing under lights, which Australians did not have. As we update Ben Dwarshuis has picked up Bavuma.

Temba Bavuma has gone past his 50. This has been a solid innings from him. He did come in when Markram was going at full flow, and the partnership between Rickelton and Markram was going at a good tempo. It would have been easy to get carried away and lose his wickets neverthless, he kept his calm and anchored this innings nicely. Having said that, South Africa does need a finishing kick here.

Well, three wickets have fallen since our last update first, it was Breetzke who got out to Adam Zampa as he tried to slog-sweep one, and then it was Tristan Stubbs who was holed out at long-off trying to hit one into the stands off Travis Head and then Brevis came in and hit a six and then was holed out at long-off. What do we know? Head has picked up three wickets today.

Breetzke has reached his half-century here. It has been a lovely tempo from him. He took a chance as soon as he came in, charging down the track, and then settled into his innings nicely very modern approach to the construction of an innings. Attack first, rattle the opposition, and then settle into a rhythm. It does seem like South Africa has found another gem of a talent here.

Mitchell Marsh in T20Is has been quite canny with his bowling changes had his own way of rotating bowlers. But in this format of the game, it does seem like he is carrying more or less Pat Cummins' style of captaincy; it might be more to do with Andrew McDonald's coaching style. Seven bowlers have been used here from Australia; it will be very interesting to see how South Africa will operate in contrast in the second innings.

The ball has been chosen by Australia, and Hardie is the man who comes into attack after bowling one in the Powerplay. As per South Africa, they are playing it pretty nicely since Breetzke has walked in; he has maintained the tempo of Markram from one end. Bavuma is too slow and steady keeps up a good pace. However, how the acceleration will vary with just one ball, we will start seeing from today on.

This is interesting from Australia, they are opting to use their 10 overs of the fifth bowler before that 34th over. The relevance of that is we have had a rule change from before when two balls were used for two ends but now only one ball will be used post 34th over and the ball that will be picked by the bowling team. If Australia wanted to delay their bowler, they could have with five fielders outside the ring after the 40th over, and a softer ball being harder to hit.

Breetzke has started well here. He is going at run-a-ball at the moment, which is what the situation demands. South Africa once again has managed to put on a good foundation here. It has been a trademark of their batting. Playing this way, they will always give themselves a chance in the game by staying in a decent position after the first 30 overs.

Breetzke is the new man in for South Africa, and he is designated as the wicket-keeper on the scoresheet. With Henrich Klaasen calling it a day in this format of the game, it would be interesting to see what attributes Breetzke brings to the table. Usually, this is the phase where South Africa just tends to change its gears slightly. 

Aiden Markram has fallen here, Ben Dwarshuis is the man who managed to pick up the crucial wicket. They were going quite well in South Africa, but it is a timely breakthrough. On Surfaces like this, which are a bit on the slower side, it becomes important that one of the batters goes onto make a big score and stays till the end, that might be the difference.

One thing Australians do as custom is giving their bowlers short, sharp bursts, and today we are witnessing the same thing. While some bowlers do prefer bowling those short spells, some prefer longer spells; however, the Australians, regardless of the attack they have, we rarely see their bowlers bowl 5, even 4 in a row in this format of the game, be it a spinner or pacer.

Aiden Markram is moved into the 70s here. It has been a smooth innings from him. He did take a bit of time to get adjusted to the pace of the surface and had to weather out an accurate Hazlewood spell with the new ball, but once he did that and the change bowlers were introduced, Markram has been superb with his timing, and his innings has just flown flawlessly.

Travis Head has finally got the breakthrough here. Ryan Rickelton was itching to get on top off Head and tried to hit one over mid-off. He ended up giving a simple catch to the fielder over there. Temba Bavuma has walked into the middle, and there is a change in bowling from Michell Marsh; Nathan Ellis is brought into the attack.

This is a solid opening partnership for South Africa. Although Mitchell Marsh has brought in the changes and there were a few threatening deliveries so far, they have not been able to create the breach. As we update, Markram has gone past his 50. South Africa has put on a solid base here for their powerful batting line-up to follow.

We have had a close call here. Ryan Rickelton tried to sweep one and missed it. The ball half-hit the pad and Rickelton's elbow, and the on-field umpire did give it out. The batter decided to send it upstairs, and to everyone's surprise, the ball was missing the stumps due to height. Rickelton survives to fight another day.

It has been South Africa's power play. For Australia, when Josh Hazlewood was bowling, it seemed the pitch had something in it, but when the others took the ball, there was not much help for them. South Africa, the good thing they did is they did not force the issue they played each ball on its merit and managed to put on a good opening stand here.

Mitchell Marsh is bringing in the bowling changes here. While Ben Dwarshuis from one end was on the cards but Mitchell Marsh could have continued with Josh Hazlewood for a few more overs because of the way he is bowling. Both the South African openers, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, are now used to the pace of the wicket and are playing some crisp shots.

One noticeable thing about South Africa during the Champions Trophy earlier in the year was that the way they play ODI cricket is a bit old-fashioned. They tend to set up the game in the first 30 overs, and then the big hitters do their work from there. Whereas the other sides, like India, England, and Australia, try to go all guns blazing through the 50 overs.

The wicket is a bit slow here, which is what Marsh mentioned at the toss. He would be hoping under the lights in the evening, and with a bit of help from the dew, it will get quicker as the way things are going at the moment, South Africans are finding it a bit harder to time the ball. Markram who has a major chunk of strike, is trying to push the ball harder than to time it because of lack of pace.

Josh Hazlewood started the proceedings for Australia, and the wicket does seem to a bit on the slower side. However, Hazlewood, with the form he is in, he kept probing around the fourth stump channel to Markram and bowled a maiden to start. Ben Dwarshuis has taken the new ball from the other end for Australia.

Coming back from West Indies, had about a month at home, I just worked on my game and it's nice to have some cricket on now. It's been a good month, itching to get some games. (Any pressure coming into this series?) You got to separate the formats but personally you want to score runs in any format. The red-ball form hasn't been as good as I want it to be but this is a good starting point for me to start the series. (On batting at three) I've spent most of my time in this one-day team at four and five, so it's an nice opportunity. I bat there majority of the times for Queensland, so it feels great and I can't wait. (On having a good record against South Africa) The contest, playing against the nation you grew up in, I don't know why but hopefully I can continue that form tonight.

Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa suffered a massive blow with star pacer Kagiso Rabada being ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Australia through injury ahead of the opening fixture on Tuesday.

Rabada has been diagnosed with inflammation in his right ankle, with scans on Monday confirming the injury. (Read more)

Aiden Markram(w), Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi

We would have bowled first as well, that's what the stats say, but we'll need to bat well first. We've got Brevis and Subrayen in today, quite excited at seeing what they can do. We'll want to play according to the conditions and want the guys to enjoy playing.

We will be bowling first. The wicket looks dry and spin did play a part in the last T20I. No real expectations, just execute and enjoy playing and winning for Australia. No real surprises for us - Marnus and Carey is back in the XI.

Maxwell produced an unbeaten half-century in a tense chase to help the hosts edge out South Africa by two wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International and complete a 2-1 series victory in Cairns on Saturday. Maxwell’s unbeaten 62 off 36 balls helped Australia chase down a 173-run target with one ball to spare in a thrilling decider at the Cazalys Stadium.

After 18 overs of their innings, it was a run-a-ball target for Australia with Maxwell in the middle. South African Corbin Bosch (3-26) claimed two wickets in the penultimate over and kept Maxwell away from the strike. Needing 10 off the last over from Lungi Ngidi, Maxwell took six from the first four balls before reverse sweeping the bowler for a four to seal Australia’s dramatic victory.

“Brevis has got a lot of talent. It was hard not to see the highlights when he played the U19 World Cup for South Africa. All the Baby AB stuff. It’s a pretty heavy burden he had to have early in his career. He probably got fast-tracked a little bit into the South African side,” 

Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Wiaan Mulder, Prenelan Subrayen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi

Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie/Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis/Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the 1st ODI, where Australia takes on South Africa. The hosts have won the T20I series, which concluded last week. Meanwhile, the visitors, with a few changes to their squad and unit, would like to win the ODI leg of the series and salvage the tour. Do stay with us to get all the live updates from Cairns.