Australia vs South Africa 2026, first ODI score, result: Australia loses after stunning Marco Jansen catch, video, highlights

A familiar foe has returned to haunt Australia as a seemingly cruisy run chase was thrown into chaos by South Africa’s spin attack as the hosts claimed a 67-run victory in the first ODI in Durban.

Set 298 to win after a spectacular century from Matthew Breetzke saved the day for the Proteas, Australia looked to have broken the back of the chase after a whirlwind half-century from captain Mitchell Marsh helped add 90 in just 56 balls for the first wicket.

But after Marsh (60 off 36) and Travis Head (36 off 37) fell attempting one big shot too many, the middle order crumbled in the face of Proteas twin spinners Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin.

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The pair took six wickets between them – with Maharaj weaving a web of deception to take 4/20 from 9.2 overs – to bowl Australia out for 230 in just 41.2 overs.

On 44, last recognised batter Matt Renshaw would fall to an extraordinary catch on the boundary from Marco Jansen to all but seal the Proteas’ victory.

The star all-rounder, who had earlier bludgeoned 75 off just 59 balls, took a one-handed stunner diving to his right on the mid-wicket boundary, sparking scenes of delirium among South African teammates.

“Absolutely stunning!” former Proteas international Khaya Zondo cried as a nonchalant Jansen was mobbed on the boundary.

The catch left Australia 7/215, with the visitors’ bowling attack needing to pull off a miracle on the final overs.

When Mitchell Starc offered Jansen a much simpler chance at long on shortly after, the Aussie resistance was all but broken, with Breetzke fittingly taking the final catch in the deep.

Earlier, the Proteas star, who averages a remarkable 63 in ODI cricket with two hundreds and six 50s in just 15 matches, hit 14 fours and two sixes to anchor the hosts’ innings with aplomb after being sent in by Marsh.

The 27-year old put on a quickfire 107-run partnership with Jansen to power the Proteas to 8/297 from their 50 overs.

Only once has a higher target been run down in Durban in ODI cricket: the Proteas’ 6/372 to successfully chase the Aussies’ total in October 2016.

Jansen, who looms as one of the key figures in South Africa’s upcoming three-Test series against Australia, clashed late in the innings with quick Nathan Ellis after a contentious single that saw the Proteas pair sneak through for a single after wicketkeeper Josh Inglis’ shy at the stumps ricocheted off Breetzke.

Ellis was further angered when Jansen responded by clobbering him for a four and a six down the ground, though he’d have some measure of revenge by trapping him LBW in the final overs.

With figures of 3/57, Ellis was the pick of the Australian bowlers to continue his fine 2026, though spinner Adam Zampa struggled, going for 50 runs off his seven overs despite taking the big wickets of Ryan Rickelton and Temba Bavuma.

After a patchy performance against Zimbabwe, Australia’s fielding was back to its best at Kingsmead.

Inglis took a pair of excellent catches, including a sharp snaffle off Zampa to remove the set Bavuma; while Matt Renshaw threw himself around the outfield to make repeat boundary saves, and took an outstanding grab at full stretch on the boundary to dismiss Rickelton for 27.

All-rounder Jack Edwards (0/56 from 10 overs) was named for his ODI debut just days after being called into the squad for the injured Billy Stanlake; while young gun Ollie Peake was surprisingly dropped after showing strong form against Zimbabwe.

Veteran quicks Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc also returned to the team, with captain Pat Cummins kept on ice and likely to feature later in the series.

ELLIS THE UNDROPPABLE

It hasn’t been a great era to be an Australian fast bowler, with Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood casting a sizeable shadow in all formats.

Few know that better than Nathan Ellis, who has consistently had to fight for his spot in both white-ball teams since making his debut in mid-2021.

With Starc and Hazlewood returning in Durban and Cummins looking set to join them in coming matches, the Hobart Hurricanes captain looked the obvious candidate to make way should selectors wish to unite the trio at any point in the series.

Ellis, though, had other ideas.

Shrugging off a jarred knee in the field to take the big wicket of Quinton de Kock with his very first ball, the 32-year old was the pick of the Australian attack.

An accuracy honed by years plying his trade in T20 leagues around the globe was on full display, as were his canny changes of pace.

Having clashed with Jansen amid a late-innings onslaught, a perfectly pitched yorker trapped the Proteas all-rounder plumb LBW for 75 to end the penultimate over, helping protect debutant Jack Edwards from needing to bowl to him at the death.

Ellis finished with a team-best 3/57 from his 10 overs, and tellingly, was trusted with a spell at the death ahead of even Starc and Hazlewood.

He now has 12 wickets in his four matches in Africa at an average of 14 – plus a match-winning 36 not out with the bat against Zimbabwe – to go with 22 in 2026 at 16.22.

Remarkably, next-best on that list is Matt Renshaw … with nine wickets.

His form offers Australia the opportunity to continue to manage the veteran duo’s fitness, along with Cummins, by rotating them through the rest of the series.

But 12 months out from a World Cup to be held in the same country, as well as Zimbabwe and Namibia, Ellis couldn’t be doing much more to force selectors into a very tough decision for the prestige tournament.

“IT’S KICKING OFF!” TENSE SCENES AS SPIRIT OF CRICKET DRAMA STRIKES

It wouldn’t be an Australian match in South Africa without a fiery confrontation.

And the first ODI roared to life late in the Proteas’ innings, after Ellis took umbrage with a controversial act from set pair Matthew Breetzke and Marco Jansen.

After a Breetzke play and miss off the Australian quick, keeper Josh Inglis took a shy at the stumps, missing but pinging the Proteas batter.

As the ball rebounded, Jansen called his partner through for a single, incensing Ellis.

While legal under the laws of the game, the practice of running after a throw ricochets off a batter or their equipment is a point of conjecture around the world.

England great Ben Stokes famously refused to run in the dying overs of the 2019 World Cup final after a New Zealand throw from the deep rebounded off his bat, only for the matter to be taken out of his hands when the ball went to the boundary.

The feisty Aussie’s frustration only grew when Jansen clubbed him down the ground for a boundary moments later, with Ellis confronting the Proteas all-rounder mid-pitch to give him another serve.

“It’s kicking off here!” former South African great Shaun Pollock said on commentary.

The pair’s head-to-head would be the highlight of the Proteas’ final 10 overs.

Jansen looked set to get the last laugh with a monster six down the ground to continue the late-innings surge … but after trapping him LBW with a crafty yorker in the second-last over, Ellis would at last get his man.

“WHY?” YOUNG GUN’S BRAIN FADE SPARKS COLLAPSE

Australia’s chase couldn’t have started better in Durban, with Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head and Cooper Connolly ensuring the run rate was well in hand by the 20-over mark.

Marsh clubbed six sixes in a whirlwind 36-ball 60, while Head and Connolly kept the scoreboard ticking over.

One of the veteran’s sixes, measured at 104 metres, even cleared the roof of the deep mid-wicket grandstand, with a fan in the neighbouring street seen placing the ball in his pocket before opting to return it.

But when Head and Inglis fell in quick succession, at 3/156 in the 22nd over, needing only slightly above five runs an over to win, the occasion called for a sensible, measured innings to steadily knock the remaining runs off.

Unfortunately, Connolly knows only one way – all-out attack.

And the approach that has seen him blossom as one of Australia’s next generation of white-ball stars, plus break out in dramatic fashion in the IPL earlier this year, brought him unstuck.

Having moved without fuss to 38 off 41 balls, he’d attempt to heave South African spinner Bjorn Fortuin over cow corner for six.

But a bit of extra bounce saw the ball catch his top edge, with David Miller racing in from long on to pouch an excellent catch.

As a dejected Connolly walked off, former great Shaun Pollock summed up the mood of many.

“There might be a few in the Australian dressing room go “Cooper Connolly, why? Why?”” the former Proteas all-rounder said.

“Why did you try and play this shot? 38 off 42, you seemed set!”

The wicket gave the hosts the inroad they needed, with Fortuin and Keshav Maharaj combining to suffocate the Australian chase – and pick up a slew of wickets.

Bowling 17 overs between them, they’d take six Aussie scalps for just 54 runs, as a Durban pitch that had looked lifeless with Adam Zampa bowling on it earlier in the day exploded to life.

When Jack Edwards fell to leave the Aussies teetering at 6/188, the team had lost 5/59 since Head’s downfall, leaving plenty to be done by the tail to see the visitors home.

At 23 years old the next stage of Connolly’s development will be improving his temperament, to combine his sensational ball-striking with the maturity to sense when the occasion calls for a more sensible, risk-free approach.

With the World Cup 12 months away, having a No.3 that can utilise both methods will be critical for Australia’s hopes of defending their title.

Recap all the action in our live blog below. Can’t see it? Click here

Teams:

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj.