AUS vs SA, AI Simulation | Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood performances ensure consolation win in third ODI

08/23/2025

As per ChatGPT, Australia will beat South Africa by 17 runs in the third ODI at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay on August 24. Travis Head’s knock at the top and Josh Hazlewood’s spell ensured the Aussies destroyed the Proteas' chances of a clean sweep series win on Sunday

‌Pitch and Weather

The surface at the Great Barrier Reef Arena had plenty of bounce and carry for the seamers, but the conditions got a little bit easier for batters under the lights.

It was a nice and warm afternoon at the Great Barrier Reef Arena at 24 degrees Celsius with no sign of rain.

Toss

Australia won the toss and chose to bat first

Lineups

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.

Match Report

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in the third and final game of the series. The decision made by Mitchell Marsh began to reap rewards straight away as he and Travis Head started the innings well with some sensible shot-making and strike rotation. With this start, the hosts had a very productive power play, with the score reading 72/0 after 10 overs. Both batters continued to accumulate runs in the middle until the spinners came and started to dry up the runs. As the pressure started to mount, Marsh was finally deceived by a nice and loopy delivery by Keshava Maharaj in the 15th over. Despite losing their skipper after a valiant knock of 42 off 47 deliveries, Head was joined by Marnus Labuschagne in the middle, who helped steady the innings. The Aussies got their inning back on track and set a good platform halfway into their innings and taking the score to 144/1 after 25 overs. Labuschagne and Marnus continued the run-flow straight after the break until the 93-run stand was finally broken in the 35th over as Labuschagne saw his stumps being cleaned up by Maharaj as he missed the sweep shot completely on a score of57. However, Head continued to score runs in the middle and was supported well by Cameron Green at the other end. With Head still at the crease and Green starting to find his feet, the Aussies were in a great position at 242/2 after 40 overs. The home team was in a great position with ten overs to go until Lungi Ngidi decided to return for one last spell and cleaned Green’s Stumps with a well-disguised slower ball. South Africa finally seemed to be back in the game as Head was dismissed in the next over by Nandre Burger after slashing the ball straight into the hands of backward point. Though a bit of pressure was created with two new batters at the crease, Josh Inglis and Alex Carey put on a decent partnership with some fearless stroke-making. Unfortunately for the Men in Yellow, Ngidi came into the attack and got both batters out in his final over as soon as they started to look threatening. Despite the efforts from the right-arm pacer, the cameos from Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett pushed to final score to 301/7.

The Proteas openers Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram had a bit of a slow start in the first half, but they managed to make up for it in the second half and took the score to 67/0 after 10 overs. As the two batters continued to score their runs at a brisk pace, Adam Zampa came into the attack and broke the partnership with a wicket of Markram, who gave a simple catch back to the leggie. Trouble started to brew for the Rainbow Nation as Rickelton was dismissed by Connolly after getting a faint outside edge through to the keeper. Though the two openers were dismissed, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma and Matthew Breetzke steadied the innings and kept the game in the balance at 122/2 after 25 overs. Bavuma and Breetzke were looking good at the crease until Travis Head managed to break the partnership in the 28th over with the wicket of the 26-year-old prodigy. The game suddenly tilted towards the hosts as Nathan Ellis got the important wicket of the South African captain in the 32nd over. However, the rainbow nation was still not out of the game as the duo of Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs kept the chase alive with some attacking shots towards the end of the second power play. After 40 overs, the game was still in the balance with the score at 210/4, with the African nation needing 91 off the last 60 balls. The two batters did their best to bring the game as deep as possible with some powerful strokes. Unfortunately for them, Josh Hazlewood spoiled the party with a double-wicket over in the 45th. Hazlewood dismissed both set players by cleaning up Stubbs with a well-executed yorker, and Brevis was caught at deep square leg after failing to execute a pull shot on a well-executed bouncer. Even after the two dismissals, there was still some hope for the Proteas with Wiaan Mulder at the crease, but sadly, that final hope also perished as he edged a delivery by Ellis to the keeper. In the end, South Africa’s whitewash hopes ended as they ended the game on a score of 284/9 and lost the game by 17 runs.