AUS vs SA 2025: Australia vs South Africa, 1st T20I Match Preview

Australia and South Africa will kickstart the white-ball series with the first T20I at the Marrara Oval in Darwin. This will be the first international match played at the venue since 2008.

Australia are coming on the back of a dominant clean sweep of West Indies away from home. They convincingly beat the hosts in all five T20Is after sweeping them in the red-ball segment. The likes of Cameron Green and Josh Inglis starred with the bat during the 20-over series. 

On the other hand, South Africa's white-ball assignment after their Test series against Zimbabwe did not go as planned. They were defeated thrice by New Zealand (including once in the final) in the tri-series involving Zimbabwe too.

The power-hitting lineup of Australia has been further strengthened with the return of Travis Head to the setup. T20I skipper Mitchell Marsh recently confirmed that he will be opening the batting alongside Head. Meanwhile, the Proteas' top-order has also been bolstered with the return of Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton.

Australia announce white-ball squads for South Africa series

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Match Details

Pitch Report

Given that this will be the first international fixture at Marrara Oval since 2008, the nature of the pitch remains unknown. The toss-winning skipper might prefer to chase as that will give the team a chance to understand the track better.

Head-to-Head Record

Predicted Playing XIs

Australia

Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa

Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, George Linde, Prenelan Subrayen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi