Australia's six-hitters to challenge South Africa's depth
Travis Head returns to add more batting power but South Africa are able to call on Kagiso Rabada
Andrew McGlashan
09-Aug-2025 • 16 hrs ago
Big Picture: International cricket returns to Darwin
There was a little more riding on the outcome when these two teams met a couple of months ago at Lord's, where South Africa wrote a new chapter in their history by claiming the World Test Championship title. This series is very much a stepping stone to the next global tournament: February's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Both sides are in T20 mode. Australia have recently completed a 5-0 sweep of West Indies where their batting power stood out - and it's been strengthened further for this series by the return of Travis Head - while South Africa were part of a tri-series in Zimbabwe where they fell short in the final against New Zealand with an experimental side.
A few key names have returned for this trip, notably captain Aiden Markram and pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, but it also continues to be an exploration of South Africa's depth and potential options ahead of the World Cup alongside getting further games into the likes of Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis and Kwena Maphaka.
"Zimbabwe [T20I tri-series] was a valuable exercise and we obviously want to build on the good things in particular the form of our two young batters and someone like Kwena as well to continue to grow his stocks in T20 cricket," coach Shukri Conrad said.
Australia are staggering the return of their all-format quicks with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc continuing to rest ahead of the home summer, while Josh Hazlewood is back, although he is likely to have his workload managed. However, Nathan Ellis' performances are raising the question as to whether it's time to permanently split up the big three in this format.
The other significant aspect of the opening matches of this series is that it sees a return of international cricket to Darwin in Australia's Top End for the first time since 2008, when Bangladesh were the visitors. The opening match is a sellout with the second on Tuesday heading that way, too. The city is a likely host of a Test match against Bangladesh next year as Australia's home season extends into the northern summer.
Form guide
Australia WWWWW(last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
South Africa LLWLW
South Africa LLWLW
In the spotlight: Mitchell Marsh and Dewald Brevis
Australia's batting order came together impressively in the West Indies, but captain Mitchell Marsh was the one player to not make a significant contribution, with 81 runs in five innings. It won't be a major concern with plenty of T20Is ahead for Marsh to hit his stride - and he's locked in at the top alongside Head - but it would be an unwanted distraction should Marsh remain short of runs, especially given the plethora of top-order options available.
There were some promising signs for Dewald Brevis in the Zimbabwe tri-series as he finished as South Africa's leading run-scorer with 133 at a strike rate 187.32, although he couldn't quite see them home in the final. Those were Brevis' first T20Is since his debut, which came against Australia in 2023, a year after he flayed an astonishing 162 off 57 balls in the domestic one-day competition. South Africa have clearly earmarked him as a likely World Cup player in the middle order.
Team news: Hazlewood likely to return, Pretorius may miss out
Matt Short continues his recovery from the side strain he picked up in the West Indies, and will miss the first two games of the series which partly eases the batting squeeze for now. Marsh confirmed he and Head would open - and are set to be the duo for the World Cup - which will see Glenn Maxwell return to the middle order and Mitchell Owen potentially being as low as No. 7. Hazlewood will strengthen the pace attack, although he may not play every match. Matt Kuhnemann is part of the squad should an extra spinner be needed.
Australia (possible): 1 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 2 Travis Head, 3 Josh Inglis (wk), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Tim David, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Mitchell Owen, 8 Ben Dwarshuis, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
South Africa's top order is bolstered by the return of Markram and Ryan Rickelton, which may see 19-year Pretorius squeezed out of the XI. Left-arm spinner George Linde took on an allrounder's role at No. 6 in Zimbabwe and could continue in that capacity.
South Africa (possible): 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 George Linde, 7 Prenelan Subrayen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Pitch and conditions
Given Darwin is effectively starting again as an international venue after such a long gap, there is some uncertainty over what the conditions will be like, although there shouldn't be anything untoward in the surface. The forecast, for both matches, is good with mild, dry evenings.
Stats and trivia
- The last time Darwin hosted an international, Australia were captained by Michael Clarke.
- These two teams have not met in T20Is since 2023, when Australia came out 3-0 winners in South Africa.
- Maxwell needs four wickets to reach 50 in T20Is. He will become just the fourth men's player to score 2500 runs and take 50 wickets in the format.
- Since the start of 2024, Australia have the highest batting strike rate in T20Is.
Quotes
"They've some young guys that have, I guess, burst onto the scene over the last couple of years. That's always exciting for international cricket, and provides us with a different challenge, but certainly looking forward to coming up against them."
Mitchell Marsh on the less-experienced players in South Africa's side.
Mitchell Marsh on the less-experienced players in South Africa's side.
"You can see these guys are raring to go. It's great having the experience back - Aiden's leadership and then obviously the leadership roles that someone like Kagiso plays. So, really excited about this next couple of weeks. We know it's going to be a great challenge."
Shukri Conrad on the return of some senior names.
Shukri Conrad on the return of some senior names.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo