Australia vs South Africa, 3rd ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Temba Bavuma lifts the trophy as the South African squad gathers around the Winners board with confetti falling in the backdrop to cap off the series. Over the past two weeks, two relatively young sides went toe-to-toe in what proved to be a tightly contested battle. Dewald Brevis caught the eye in the T20Is with his flair, though he couldn’t quite replicate that form in the ODIs — apart from a glimpse today of what he’s capable of in the 50-over game. Breetzke has been a pillar of consistency for the Proteas in his short ODI career, while Cameron Green is steadily finding his rhythm, delivering regular contributions for Australia. SA had the upper hand in the first two ODIs, but Australia owned the day. With that, our coverage comes to an end. This is Nikhil signing off alongside MS Ramakrishnan and Siva.

Stats by Shashikant Singh

Australia vs South Africa's last five ODI series
5-0 won by SA (2016)
2-1 won by SA(2018)
3-0 won by SA (2020)
3-2 won by SA (2023)
2-1 won by SA (2025)*

Most bilateral ODI series wins vs Australia (3+ matches in series)
9 - South Africa (15 series)*
8 - England (21)
6 - India (14)
4 - Sri Lanka (8)
4 - Pakistan (11)

Biggest defeat margin for South Africa (by runs)
276 vs AUS, Mackay, 2025*
243 vs IND, Eden Gardens, 2023
182 vs PAK, Gqeberha, 2002
180 vs SL, Colombo RPS, 2013

Biggest win margin for Australia in ODIs (by runs)
309 vs NED, Delhi, 2023
276 vs SA, Mackay, 2025*
275 vs AFG, WACA, 2015
256 vs NAM, Potchefstroom, 2003

Cooper Connolly (5/22) is only the second Australian left-arm finger-spinner to take a five-wicket haul in an ODI innings alongside Michael Clarke (5/35) against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in 2004.

Mitchell Marsh | Australian captain: A good performance from the lads, shame it's a little too late. But full credit to South Africa as they played outstandingly well in the first two games. It was a pretty crazy day, wasn't it. Full credit to South Africa. We wanted to come out and win this game, didn't want a clean sweep, especially at home. So it was an important day for us. The boys batted really well, pleasure to be at the other end when Head is batting that like. Green was outstanding, so nice to finish the series with a win. It was his (Cooper's) first five-for, so he was pretty happy with that. Any time when a young guy comes in and performs like that, it's great. A lot of positives to take.

Temba Bavuma | SA captain: We were under the pump from the first ball today. They put us under pressure and we had no answers. They made it look like a very good surface which I think was. Yeah, they were far better than us. (Missed the experienced bowlers) In terms of assessing the conditions and adjusting to them. It's a big learning curve for all of us. We need to find the balance between playing high risk and batsmanship. Can only get better from here. We are not close at the moment (team being a complete package.) We didn't play close to our hundred percent. But it was a good effort to come out on top and win the series. We need to keep learning from our mistakes, we are still making them in batting and bowling. We do have to work on a few things with the one-day world up in a couple of years. So we need to keep getting better.

Keshav Maharaj | Player of the Series: Was fortunate enough to get that (five-wicket haul.) Could have liked to contribute in other few games as well. Kudos to the Aussies as they played exceptionally well. The series went by so quickly if you look at it, really grateful to get career best figures in Australia. Today the wicket was pretty flat to be honest. We weren't too disciplined either, they put the bad balls away. Need to go back to the drawing board and will need to be more clinical going forward.

Travis Head | Player of the Match: It's pretty nice, has been a big difference for us coming here from Cairns. Has been good fun. Happy to perform. Good signs for a couple of players, got a little break before we go into the Ashes. Will get confidence going into that break. Threw a few starts in a couple of games. The tempo was better today, we (Marsh and I) got off to a good start, which is really important. Nice to get a hundred for Australia. Surprised myself with the way I played today. Nice to take that momentum into the break.

20:27 Local Time, 10:27 GMT, 15:57 IST: Australia have signed off with a clinical victory, wrapping up the series on a high. It was a closely fought contest overall, with Australia taking the T20I series 2–1 and South Africa claiming the ODIs by the same margin, but today belonged entirely to the hosts. The Australian top order was relentless as Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Cameron Green all struck centuries, making the South African bowlers toil throughout the 50 overs. Alex Carey added a brisk fifty as well, guiding the hosts to a towering 431. In their pursuit, South Africa struggled to find any rhythm and never truly got going. Abbott and Bartlett ripped through the top order with two wickets apiece in the powerplay, leaving the Proteas reeling. From there, the chase never recovered, and Cooper Connolly applied the finishing touches as he grabbed a five-wicket haul to seal a dominant win for Australia. Stay around for the presentations..

Zampa to Kwena Maphaka, out Caught by Head!! Kwena Maphaka is the last man out! A flatter delivery around off, Kwena Maphaka goes for a reverse sweep and gets a glove to it. The ball balloons towards backward point where Head completes a fine catch diving in front of him. Australia win by a massive margin of 276 runs! Handshakes between the players as they start walking back to the pavilion. The Australian players have big smiles on their faces. Kwena Maphaka c Head b Zampa 0(5)

Zampa to Kwena Maphaka, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Zampa to Kwena Maphaka, no run, googly outside off, Kwena Maphaka gets beaten on the outside edge

Zampa to Kwena Maphaka, no run, flatter delivery around middle and leg, nudged to mid-wicket by Kwena Maphaka

Zampa to Kwena Maphaka, no run, loopy delivery outside off, pushed into the off-side by Kwena Maphaka

STAT: Cooper Connolly is the first Australian spinner to pick 5-wicket haul against South Africa in ODIs.

Zampa to Muthusamy, leg byes, 1 run, fired on leg, Muthusamy looks to flick it away, gets hit on the pads. A leg bye taken

Connolly gets more hugs from his teammates after the end of that over.