South Africa crashed to an embarrassing 276-run loss to Australia in the 3rd ODI as Australia avoided themselves an ignomity of a whitewash. While South Africa won the series 2-1 and a lot of positives for them through the course of this series, today a lot of concerns showed up. They themselves decided to rest the bowlers and played an inexperienced bowling side and got badly exposed on a belter of a track. We will try and list out three reasons for South Africa’s embarrassing loss to Australia in 3rd ODI.
Inability to contain the openers hurt South Africa badly.Â
South Africa decided to rest their main bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger and played the likes of Maphaka and Mulder as main bowlers alongside Bosch and that exposed them badly as the Australians who were out of form took advantage of the situation. They won an important toss and elected to bat first on a flat deck and the bowling of South Africa was exposed.
Maphaka and Mulder bowled with the new ball and were taken to the cleaners as both Head and Marsh who looked to struggle in the first two matches roared back into form. Forget taking wickets in the powerplay, Australia batted for 34 overs with 10 wickets in hand as runs came without breaking a sweat. They put on 250 for the first wicket in 34 overs before Head fell to Maharaj and Marsh to Muthusamy but the damage was done as both openers got terrific hundreds to their name.
Later, Cameron Green got a hundred and Alex Carey a half-century as they too put on 164 off 82 balls unbeaten for the 3rd wicket. South Africa had no plans to counter them especially the openers as apart from Maharaj nobody bowled well. Going forward, they need to be careful of this thing and rectify it as both Mulder and Maphaka are not new ball bowlers in ODIs. Both went over 10 an over and if Maharaj did not bowl well, Australia might have got 500 today.
Losing 4 wickets in the first powerplay chasing 432 put the game beyond doubt.Â
With a chase of 432 to get there, South Africa needed a solid beginning from their openers to even have a glimmer of hope of making a match out of it. They needed to be maybe 70-80 but more importantly without loss or at the most one wicket down just to make things interesting. But scoreboard pressure got the better of them as they lost 4 wickets inside 9 overs to be on the back foot. Yes, runs also came but they lost wickets as well and were reduced to 65/4 after 10 overs.
The game was as good as over at this stage as the required rate had climbed up and wickets were lost which meant South Africa had their backs against the walls. While they managed to add 90 more runs after powerplay, they also got bowled out in the process. The pressure of the asking rate meant too many shots were played and the batters lost their wickets. There was no extraordinary bowling from Australia but just the situation that left to South Africa losing their way.
Going forward, South Africa needs to look at how to construct a chase as we have seen them falter before. Today’s case was different, but the Proteas need to get off to a decent start and keep wickets in hand and try taking the game deep. That is the mantra to win in white-ball games. Today their batting could have done better on a good track but caved in under pressure especially in the first powerplay.
Inability to play Cooper Connolly exposes South Africa’s weaknesses against spin.Â
While, Head, Marsh and Green were the stars with the bat, Australia found a new star with the ball in the form of Cooper Connolly. Connolly is a spin bowling all-rounder known for his batting down the order and occasional bowling. He came into the side today in place of Aaron Hardie and while he did not get a chance to bat, he made his presence with the ball. He came onto bowl after the first powerplay in which South Africa had already lost 4 wickets.
He came into the attack and cleaned up the lower middle order and tail as South Africa were found wanting playing them. Some were rash shots and some were poor techniques as well. Yes, Connolly was lucky but he bowled well and South Africa did not play him well at all. Zampa also got a wicket as 6 wickets fell to spin. We know South Africa’s record against spin at times and this is an area that needs serious working to do well going forward.
South Africa needs to better their playing spin bowling. Yes, today was a case where scoreboard pressure did play a part but overall, we have seen them struggling against spin in the past and today was no different. They have made improvements from before, but are still a work in progress in playing spin and needs to improve ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup at their home.
What Lies Ahead.Â
The Australia vs South Africa series is over with the hosts taking the T20I series 2-1 and the visitors hitting back to win the ODI series by the same margin. For South Africa, they take the trip to England next for a white-ball tour comprising 3 ODIS and 3 T20IS starting on 2nd September 2025 while Australia gets a break totally as they will next host India in 3 ODIS and 5 T20IS from 19th October 2025.
So, a lot to look forward to as both teams set on their different ways as a lot of cricketing action awaits the Proteas for the next few weeks as they head to England. Other teams are also in action, so a lot of cricket to look forward to for all cricket lovers.
Also Read: AUS vs SA: Adam Zampa’s Tricky Variations Stuns South Africa