South Africa vs Australia, 1st ODI at Bloemfontein, SA v AUS, Sep 07 2023 - Match Result

Not really sure what to say. Among all the Asia Cup storylines, whoduve thunk Australia and South Africa would spring a surprise like this?! Anyway, let's hope Cam Green is okay. More updates will come in soon. Firdose Moonda and my co-commentator, Andrew McGlashan, will report that news. Check it out. We'll be back in a couple of days for the second ODI. Ranjith P and K Vairavan have been our scorers. Goodbye from us all.

Mitchell Marsh, Australia captain: Gutsy win, boys are unbelievable. We lost a few wickets early on, showed plenty of intent, which I was happy with, to play without fear. We were lucky with Marnus coming in and taking us over the line. Marnus is the perfect man for that job. He gives it everything regardless of when he's coming, tonight's was a class innings. Four games to go, would be nice to keep winning. We bowled well, used the conditions to out benefit. (On Marnus' WC selection) Luckily, I'm just a stand-in skipper. I don't have to make those decisions.

Marnus Labuschagne, POTM: What a rollercoaster! It's a strange thing. My mum was adamant last night I was playing today. I said, "I'm not in the team." Just got some weird thing that happens around concussions. I've been disappointed with how I've played ODIs in the last 10-12 games. I tried to right some wrongs - certain things to improve against spin and pace. Didn't have the pressure last night of laying in bed and thinking about my batting. Nice that it all came together. Unbelievable partnership with Agar. I was impressed with him staying calm, we waited for South Africa to start searching and open the game up. Selection for the WC is not my job. My job is just to do whatever I can for the team to win. Whatever happens there is out of my control, but I'm happy with the win. Made it special today that my mum hung around even though I wasn't playing. Happy to have my family, support I get here is overwhelmingly.

Well, Temba spoke with a pensive baritone with some pauses to catch his breath and seemed quite serious.

Temba Bavuma, SA captain: Not a high-scoring match you expect here. We were a few runs short but gave ourselves a chance. We lost the ability to create chances, they played well. Marnus coming in as a sub held things together for them. Conversations to be had about our batting and bowling. Interesting day today. Pitch wasn't easy. At night, it started to skid on and play a lot more fluently. During the day, we found it tricky. They bowled well, not allowing cuts or drives. I tried to battle through, found nothing fluent about my innings. It helped batting with guys like Klaasen, Markram who egged me on and made me more aware what the bigger picture was. Marnus took the opportunities he got early on and stabilised. Not the first time he came on as a concussion sub, things worked in their favour. Need to take learnings from today and come out better on Saturday.

8:21pm: How did that happen? What even was that? A chase that seemed nothing beyond the binary of boundary/wicket grew layers in unlikely circumstances, most notably Cameron Green being hit on the head and Marnus Labuschagne coming in as a concussion sub, and finished with a sense of serenity that seemed otherworldly at the start. Kagiso Rabada was fire, Gerald Coetzee was volcano, Marco Jansen was magic and they were collectively putting Australia's aggression to shame. Marsh, Head got starts but couldn't carry on. Inglis, Carey, Stoinis, Abbott were ripped out and the drama in Bloemfontein was all set to fly off the handle. But a hard-to-believe partnership between Marnus and Agar in severely tough circumstances took Australia through.

Aquib Mohammed : "48* is Agar's highest score in an ODI innings."

Might be the final over. Around

Aquib Mohammed : "So, did the pitch flatten as the game progressed? South Africa was having a tough time, Australia was blazing through but also losimg wickets, and Agar is in a 100 run partnership! " Seems like it has flattened. It was hooping and jumping all over the place. One or two comments even mentioned player safety and stopping the game. Quite the turnaround.

Australia one hit away now from the win. South Africa, still a hat-trick away.

Markram finally on. 10 runs needed off 72 balls. Around

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