The Proteas beat Australia by 67 runs in the first one-day international at Kingsmead on Heritage Day, Thursday.
Matthew Breetzke hit a century and Keshav Maharaj took 4/20, SuperSport reported. South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0.
Australia won the toss and sent South Africa in to bat. The Proteas made 297 for eight in their 50 overs.
Breetzke scored a run-a-ball hundred, his second century against Australia. He became the highest-scoring South African in his first 14 ODIs.
Breetzke made 112 off 106 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes, before he was run out.
He came in at 29 for two. Tony de Zorzi was out for a duck and Quinton de Kock for 14. He and captain Temba Bavuma added 54 in 66 balls.
Bavuma was caught behind off Adam Zampa for 30. Nathan Ellis was Australia’s best bowler with 3/57, while Zampa took 2/50.
“It was really tricky early on with those first two wickets going down and against a world class bowling attack we had to dig deep,” Breetzke said.
South Africa were 168 for five when Marco Jansen joined Breetzke in the 34th over. The pair added 107 runs in just 81 balls for the sixth wicket.
Jansen hit 75 off 59 balls, including four big sixes. It equalled his highest ODI score.
Chasing 298, Australia made a fast start. Captain Mitch Marsh hit five fours and six sixes in a 36-ball 60.
Australia reached 90 in the 10th over. Marsh was then out, driving Maharaj to Breetzke in the covers.
From 129 for one in the 16th over, Australia lost their last nine wickets for 101. They were bowled out for 230 in 41.2 overs.
Left-arm spinners Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin led the fightback. Fortuin took 2/34 in eight overs.
Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis all fell to poor shots, SuperSport said.
Matt Renshaw made a gritty 44 off 49 balls. His stand ended when Jansen took a one-handed diving catch on the midwicket boundary.
Corbin Bosch and Gerald Coetzee took two wickets each. Marsh said he was “disappointed” with the result.
Breetzke was named player of the match.
Source: this article is based on reporting by supersport.com. Image: supersport.com. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.