All you need to know: Australia v South Africa ODIs

ODI series facts 

Schedule:

February 3: Adelaide Oval, 2.40pm AEDT (2.10pm ACDT)

 

February 7: North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

 

February 10: North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

How to watch or listen in Australia: Channel Seven, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and ABC radio

Live scores: Match Centre

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Scoop Podcast 

The squads

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

 

South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloe Tryon, Delmi Tucker

Alyssa Healy is leading an experienced Australian group into the white-ball leg of the multi-format series against South Africa, with selectors naming a 14-player squad for the ODIs, mostly unchanged from the one that has just returned from India.

There is one change from that group and from the T20I series that concluded in Hobart on Tuesday, with Grace Harris leaving the squad to be replaced by Alana King.

Fans in Australia will be familiar with South Africa’s biggest names, who are regulars in the Weber WBBL. Laura Wolvaardt makes a welcome return to Adelaide – where she plays for the Strikers – while Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon are both dominant all-round forces and Nadine de Klerk has uncovered new levels to her game in the last 12 months.

There is depth beyond the Big Bash regulars. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba is ranked among the world’s top T20 bowlers and will be eagerly looking forward to her first opportunity to play in Australia. Then there’s Tazmin Brits, a former junior javelin world champion who became a breakout star for the Proteas at the T20 World Cup. A horror car crash ended Brits’ Olympic dreams in 2011, but having found her way into cricket following her recovery, the 32-year-old late bloomer is now a mainstay at the top of the order.

Recent form

Australia recently returned from their all-format tour of India which included a 3-0 win in the ODI leg.

The Aussies bookended that series with two emphatic victories, but were forced to scrap in the second game, where they held on to win by three runs.

South Africa last hosted Bangladesh in three ODIs in December.

Bangladesh stunned the Proteas in the first 50-over game, winning by 119 runs, before the hosts recovered to claim the series 2-1.

The multi-format tour

Australia and South Africa are meeting in three T20Is, three ODIs and the first ever Test between the teams over the course of the next few weeks. It features the same overall points system that is employed in the Ashes, with two points on offer for each white-ball win and four for victory in the Test.

Australia currently lead 4-2 after winning two of the three T20Is.

Last time they met

The last time Australia played South Africa in an ODI was at the 2022 World Cup in Wellington. Meg Lanning scored an unbeaten 135 at The Basin in a successful chase of South Africa's 5-271.

Laura Wolvaardt's 90 set the Australians a challenging target, but Lanning weathered a dangerous early spell from Shabnim Ismail to steer her team to victory with five wickets in hand and 28 balls to spare.

The forecast

Adelaide is set for a hot and sunny Saturday with a top of 33 degrees Celsius forecast.

Sydney is currently predicted to have a warm but potentially wet week, so fingers crossed that does not interfere with the games at North Sydney Oval.

Head-to-head in ODIs

Overall: Australia: 14, South Africa: 0, tied: 1

 

In Australia: Australia: 7, South Africa: 0, tied: 1

 

Most runs: Meg Lanning (424), Ellyse Perry (382), Karen Rolton (301), Nicole Bolton (298), Belinda Clark (294)

 

Most wickets: Sune Luus (15), Ellyse Perry (12), Cathryn Fitzpatrick (12), Charmaine Mason (11), Jess Jonassen (9)

The ICC ODI Championship

ICC Women's Championship points will be on offer in the three-match ODI series. Running every four years, the Championship determines which five teams, alongside hosts India, gain automatic qualification for the 2025 World Cup.

This is Australia's third round of the new edition of the Championship and having won both previous editions, they will be eager to secure all six points on offer.

The Aussies currently sit second on the table behind South Africa, having won eight of 12 ODIs in this cycle. They lost two one-dayers to England during the Ashes, and had washouts against Ireland and West Indies.

South Africa have also played four rounds so far, winning nine of 12 matches against New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ireland.

Women's CommBank T20I Series v South Africa

First T20: Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20: South Africa won by six wickets

January 30: Australia won by five wickets

Women's CommBank ODI Series v South Africa

February 3: First ODI, Adelaide Oval, 2.10pm

February 7: Second ODI, North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm

February 10: Third ODI, North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris*, Jess Jonassen, Alana King**, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham *T20s only | **ODIs only

South Africa squad (T20Is & ODIs): Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Chloe Tryon, Delmi Tucker 

Women's CommBank Test Match v South Africa

February 15-18: Only Test, WACA Ground, Perth 11.00am