Hazlewood strikes as South Africa slump to 8/1 in first ODI against Australia

Australia win toss and insert South Africa on a tacky Kingsmead surface

Australia captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and elected to field on a humid morning at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead in Durban, opting to exploit what looked like a tacky, slowish pitch under overcast skies in the first One Day International of the series.

Starc sets the tone, Hazlewood provides the breakthrough

Mitchell Starc, rested and raring to go, opened the bowling with the new ball and immediately tied down Quinton de Kock with a disciplined spell. The left-armer conceded just six runs from his first two overs without reward, repeatedly shaping the ball away from the left-handed opener and beating his outside edge on a short, lifting delivery.

At the other end, Josh Hazlewood was even tighter, sending down a maiden to Tony de Zorzi before striking in his second over. Hazlewood "bashes the length very hard and gets the ball to nip away from the leg stump," prompting de Zorzi to clear his front leg in search of a drive. The opener "gets cramped up for space and gets a fat outside edge," with the ball flying to first slip where Matt Renshaw took a fine catch over his head. South Africa were 6/1 in 3.1 overs.

Skipper Temba Bavuma walked out at number three and got off the mark with a tight single before de Kock lifted the first boundary of the innings, carving Starc late and wide of the slip cordon for four. South Africa reached 8/1 from 3.5 overs at the first break in play.

Scorecard snapshot

South Africa 8/1 (3.5 overs)

Quinton de Kock – not out 7 (13 balls, 1 four)
Tony de Zorzi – caught Renshaw, bowled Hazlewood 0 (7 balls)
Temba Bavuma – not out 1 (3 balls)

Bowling: Mitchell Starc 2-0-6-0; Josh Hazlewood 1.5-1-2-1.

Teams

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj.

Australia: Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kingsmead, Durban. Umpires: Asif Yaqoob, Babs Gcuma, Richard Illingworth, Arno Jacobs (Javagal Srinath, match referee).