Xavier Bartlett struck twice in the opening six overs upon being recalled to the Australian side, but the second ODI at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay is delicately poised after a South African rising star officially completed the best start a men’s ODI career ever.
Proteas No.4 Breetzke took 46 balls to bring up his half-century, his fourth score of fifty in as many matches.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, the 26-year-old right-hander is the first male to raise their bat in their first four appearances in the 50-over format.
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Breetzke, who made 150 on debut against New Zealand earlier this year, has also broken teammate Temba Bavuma’s record for the most runs scored in a batter’s first four ODIs.
Earlier, Bartlett had stand-in South African skipper Aiden Markram caught at forward square leg by Travis Head for a duck before removing Markam’s fellow opener Ryan Rickleton, caught behind by a diving Josh Inglis, for 8 to have the visitors under the pump at 2/23.
But the recalled Tony de Zorzi and Breetzke then justified Markram’s decision to bat first, with an impressive 67-run partnership, highlighted by Breetzke taking 16 runs off Aaron Hardie’s opening over.
The introduction of Adam Zampa broke the stand between the inexperienced right-hand/left-hand combination, with a de Zorzi leading edge gifting the leg spinner a simple return catch to have the visitors 3/90 after 16 overs.
Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh said at the toss he was going to change his approach and bat first, but the hosts’ bowlers gained first use of the surface with Bartlett replacing Ben Dwarshuis the sole change to Australian the side.
“We were going to have a bat first,” Marsh, who has bowled first all 21 times he has won the toss as Australian white-ball captain, said with a chuckle. “Looks like a really good one-day wicket, but obviously happy to bowl first.
MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs South Africa second ODI scorecard
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For the South Africans, captain Temba Bavuma has been rested as part of his workload management following the hamstring injury he sustained during the Proteas’ World Test Championship final triumph.
But in a social media statement, the South Africans said that Bavuma will return for the third ODI on Sunday.
South African spinner Prenelan Subrayen is also out of the side after being reported for bowling with a suspect action during the Proteas’ victory in Cairns, replaced by left arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy.
Australia’s men have never played an ODI in Mackay previously.
The Queensland venue staged a rained out match between India and Sri Lanka during the 1992 World Cup and Australia’s women won a three-game ODI series there against India in 2021.
Australia XI: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
SA spinner reported for suspect action | 01:25
PREVIEW
Cameron Green is adamant the Australians can turn things around after an “off day” during the ODI series opener against South Africa in Cairns.
The hosts lost the first ODI against the Proteas by 98 runs, the team’s heaviest defeat in a home ODI since 1991 after spinner Keshav Maharaj ripped through the middle order at Cazalys Stadium.
Australia lost 6-29 in a dismal collapse, with Maharaj sealing a maiden ODI five-wicket haul in just 26 deliveries.
Green, one of the Australians toppled by Maharaj, declared the team had not dwelt on the dreadful batting display.
“Obviously Maharaj bowled beautifully, a couple of their batters batted really well,” Green told reporters on Thursday.
“We didn’t want to debrief it too much. I think we know we’re a good team. We’ve had a lot of success the last few months. So to deep dive into it is probably not the right way to go about it. There’s certainly things we need to improve on. I think we just had a reasonable off day, but there’s plenty of one-day cricket coming up, so hopefully we can turn that around.”
Green uncertain about Ashes batting role | 01:15
Australia ODI squad
Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa
South Africa ODI squad
Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Kwena Maphaka, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen
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