AUS vs SA Cricket Score, 3rd ODI Highlights: Australia beat South Africa by 276 runs in Mackay

Connolly has picked up a five-wicket haul here. Who would have thought before the innings that he will be the main man for Australia? Keshav Maharaj charged down the track and missed the ball completely and got stumped. As we update, Adam Zampa has picked up the final wicket. South Africa are bundled out for 155.

Corbin Bosch is the batter who has fallen now. He was too similar to Mulder, tried to pick Connolly over the boundary, however, he was caught by the boundary by Marnus yet again. South Africa are now eight down. It must be said all the chasing efforts in this series have been quite tame.

Mulder, too has fallen here. It is once again Connolly who does the trick with his left-arm spin. The batter charged down the track and tried to hit him over long-on; however, he was holed on the boundary. It has been a forgettable game for Mulder, with the ball he gave away 93 from seven with the bat he made five.

Dewald Brevis has fallen here. The South African tried to take on Conolley and hit him out of the park down the ground, but was caught at long-off. Well, he scored his 49 in a quick time, but this is a format where he needs the art of strike rotation and he had the opportunity to make a good 70-80.

The conventional batting method of South Africa is to lay the foundation in power play and then accelerate through middle overs and have a strong finish. The approach, though, is the right way for ODI's in chases like this they do tend to fall apart like today when their regular approach will not get them across the line.

Another wicket has fallen for South Africa here, and it is Tony de Zorzi. The areas Copper Connelly with his lengths wants the batters to hit are in square directions, and De Zorzi fell right into the trap and hit and was caught at mid-wicket. The Proteas have lost five wickets now. Wiaan Mulder has walked into the middle.

Dewald Brevis, since coming in, has stuck some hefty blows here. He has gone a bit quiet after the impeccable T20I series he had. However, this game seems like a far-fetched one, and Brevis has the opportunity to freely unlock his ODI mojo. As per the other end, De Zorzi has batted at the other end for a while now and is well set.

Bartlett has picked up the wicket of Tristan Stubbs here. The batter charged down the track and tried to whack the ball over covers, but was caught by the in-fielder. These are the chases that cannot be won in 30 overs, but teams can definitely lose it by being over-aggressive.

This is a superb start for Australia in the second innings. The ball tends to nibble around in the lights, and Australia has made the most of the swing available. The wickets in Australia for this series have been more subcontinental type for the series. It might have to do with the unusual season in which cricket is being played here.

Bavuma smokes Abbott's short ball handsomely through mid-wicket for FOUR. Crisp connection there as he stands up and wallops it from his presence. Oh dear, he's dragged one on! Abbott quickly corrects his line and cramps the South Africa captain up for room and Bavuma feathers it back to the stumps. South Africa are in disarray now as Tristan Stubbs walks in within six overs.

Temba Bavuma b Abbott 19 (10b 4x4)

Bartlett has another early wicket in the Powerplay. Ryan Rickelton looked shaky around the off-stump to the away-shapers and Bartlett deftly brings one back in, angling towards the thigh-pad. Rickelton fails to keep it down and offers a tame chape to the square leg fielder.

Ryan Rickelton c Connolly b Bartlett 11 (12b 2x4)

Sean Abbott hits the perfect length as Australia strike early. Markram leans into the drive and pokes hard and the outswinger nibbles the edge and flies to second slip. Easy for Green who can't put a foot wrong today and South Africa concede an early wicket yet again. 

Aiden Markram c Green b Abbott 2 (8b)

Xavier Bartlett has started bowling here, and he has been able to extract a bit of swing under the lights. Although it is swinging for now, the evidence from the first innings shows what a good wicket this is. If both Markram and Rickelton can see off the first 4-5 overs, this will be an interesting chase.

After conceding the ODI series with consecutive defeats, Australia unleashed carnage on South Africa in the third ODI on Sunday, smashing a whopping 431-run total against South Africa at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, while equalling a unique ODI world record.

Led by centuries from openers Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, Australia got off to a blazing start before no. 3 Cameron Green joined in on the fun by smashing his maiden hundred to propel Australia past 400 and mark a rare instance of three centuries in a men’s ODI match. (Read more)

I wasn't quite ready (to come in to bat). A couple of twos at the start got me going. The two openers (Marsh and Head) batted beautifully. It came off well today, doesn't come off always. So really happy. We haven't played much one day cricket of late. Got an opportunity today, so it was nice. Hopefully the two openers keep doing that (scoring heavily) going forward. We couldn't get it right in the previous game, was nothing to do with batting first or second.

Between a cold December morning in 2005 in Rajkot, his hometown, and an evenly crisp February Ranji Trophy fixture in 2025, Cheteshwar Pujara built a colossal monument of First-Class runs, sheathed by nearly impregnable defences for 20 years.

Despite his dodgy knees, requiring ACL reconstruction surgeries on both legs early in his career, the foremost Pujara quality remains his unfettered endurance, one that carried him a long haul of 21,301 FC runs, 66 centuries and 278 matches with distinction, averaging 51.06. (Read more)

Well, it is hard to see how South Africa is going to chase these. It is not impossible but improbable. As per the Australian batting, the conditions were there to make the most of from a batting perspective, and South African bowling lacked the venom and both Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head made the most of it early on and Cameron Green delivered the final blow. We will be right back with the chase. Do join us.

40 - Glenn Maxwell vs NED, Delhi, 2023
47 - Cameron Green vs SA, Mackay, 2025*
51 - Glenn Maxwell vs SL, Sydney, 2015
57 - James Faulkner vs IND, Bengaluru, 2013

Well, this has been a carnage from Australia. A magnificent batting display, however, still things to ponder. They do have the power players who can take the game awaybut do they have players like Steven Smith when things get tough? Marnus Labuschagne has been assigned the role, but when he was needed in the first two games, he failed to perform.

Cameron Green has been magnificent since walking in. He has always shown the ability that he can score quickly; however, he tends to play a bit of subdued cricket, especially when it comes to longer formats, but today he had the opportunity to use the long handle, and he has done it so far quite effectively.

Green has slammed fifty here. Australia is looking good for 400 or more. The problem South Africa is having here is that none of their frontline seamers seem to know what areas to bowl to contain the batters. With short square boundaries, it might be an ideal ploy to make the batters hit down the ground however, they are ending up bowling slot balls.

This between Green and Carey is another deflating partnership for South Africa also, from their batting perspective it is an intresting day for them to check how their batters respond under pressure in the past they have had fair share of issues chasing scores and altough it is a dead rubber it can be a good test to the temprament of their players.

Both Cameron Green and Alex Carey have started quickly off the blocks here. There are almost 11 overs left in this innings and Australia have almost reached 300. It is not just the lack of help from the wicket the South African bowlers did lack venom in their attack. Both Mulder and Maphaka have been quite toothless with the new ball.

Well, the partnership has been broken, and now both batters have walked back. Mitchell Marsh, who also managed to complete his ton has fallen prey to Muthusamy. It is time where South Africa can create inroads. Especially with one of the balls being softer we have seen in the intial games it is hard to get started.

Travis Head falls, there is a breakthrough for South Africa, and who else can it be? It is Keshav Maharaj who gets the wicket in the end. South Africa finally has the breakthrough, but a lot of damage has been done. Australia will be looking to get at least 380 from here on, or else it will be a disappointment.

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton(w), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kwena Maphaka

Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa

What a day this is turning out to be, Australia. With the amount of time left in this game, Travis Head can score a double hundred. It is interesting that a lot of players have been able to score a double hundred, but none from Australia, while David Warner did threaten a few times, Head might be the guy who may deliver it.

Travis Head is closing in on 100. Australia will be looking to get 350 here and if it were two new balls it would have been even 400 but with only one ball being used after 34th over there might be a slight change in momentum and Australia might slow down a bit. But so far the evidence shows South Africa does not have bowlers who can exploit slower one. As we update Head slams ton.

A couple of days back, Cheteshwar Pujara informed his father Arvind about his decision to retire from all forms of cricket. “Don’t you want to play one more Ranji Trophy season?” – was the reflex reaction by the man, whose obsessive commitment to technically-perfect batting had made his son India’s all-time Top 10 Test run-getter. “No,” said Cheteshwar.

Arvind, 74, understood it was time to officially fold up the highly successful pet project. According to Cheteshwar, his father gave that wise nod, the one he gave when he connected the ball from the meat of his bat in the nets, let his body lean on the back rest of his easy chair and gave a big smile of contentment. “He looked relaxed and even I am feeling a lot lighter,” Pujara says. (Read more from Sandeep Dwivedi)

Wearing the Indian jersey, singing the anthem, and trying my best each time I stepped on the field - it’s impossible to put into words what it truly meant. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and with immense gratitude I have decided to retire from all forms of… pic.twitter.com/p8yOd5tFyT

— Cheteshwar Pujara (@cheteshwar1) August 24, 2025

This partnership just continues to grow here. The problem South Africa has here is that their attack is looking completely toothless. The ball is coming on quite brilliantly onto the bat and this is now threatening to be one of those dead rubbers where one team completely pummels the other. Having said that is a good test of South African bowlers.

Corbin Bosch has come into attack here, which is another change South Africa has made today. While it is an opportunity for both sides to test their bench strengths, it is also vital from an Australian perspective that the players who have not been in form in the series get into some rhythm especially both Head and Marsh, who are quite dangerous at the top of the order.

The spinners have been able to contain the rate, but what South Africa needs is a wicket here. Travis Head with the half-century has got himself a start here, and the wicket is playing the way it is If he gears down a bit through these middle overs, there is a ton for the taking meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh from the other end too has been quite handy.

Temba Bavuma has turned to both his spinners early in the piece here. We have seen what Maharaj did in the opening game of the series. Although he has not picked up a wicket here, he has bowled quite tidily and definitely pulled back the momentum. Aiden Markram, who is the other spinner deployed. As we update Travis Head scored 50.

This is getting from bad to worse for South Africa. Mulder, who started from the other end is he is bowling a bit of nothing deliveries with his gentle pace, which is easy to pick for the batters, and when he tried to pitch it up and look for swing, he has floated it up there. Without their frontline bowlers, the quality seems to have dropped quite sharply today.

That is a blistering start. With Maphaka, who is still a teenager, there was always going to be a problem of inaccuracy, and Head was already looking to put the pressure back on the bowlers, and those poor deliveries from Maphaka did not help his cause either. The start Australia has got here, we might be looking at something around 300 today.

Maphaka took the new ball for South Africa. He is one of the changes that the Proteas made for today's game. He was a bit wavered in that opening and conceded 10. More than the flick down the leg-side, it was the on-drive of the final ball of the over that would bring a smile on Head's face. Mulder has taken the new ball from the other end.

It is a beautiful day here in Mackay and Australia, and after winning the toss and opting to bat first would look to enjoy themselves. This is a batting order with a lot of firepower, but they have not cracked it. We might see things turn for the better today.

Ryan Rickelton(w), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kwena Maphaka

Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa

Would have been nice to bat, looks a bit dry. Hopefully it spins during the day. Three changes for us. Burger and Ngidi have been rested as part of workload management and Breetzke has also been rested, I replace him. We want to be at our best.

We are going to bat first. Looks like a really good wicket and hopefully we can put on a good score. Sean Abbott comes in for Josh Hazlewood. Connolly comes in for Hardie.

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

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

Hello and welcome to our live blog for the third ODI between Australia and South Africa. Although the hosts have already lost the series, they still have pride to play for in the final game. We might expect to see plenty of changes in both sides, do stay with us for all the live action coming up.