RSA VS AUS - 1st T20I, Australia tour of South Africa, 2023

There we have it, Australia go 1-0 up in this 3-match T20I series. Quick turnaround too, the second game is on Friday and we'll be staying at Durban for it. The Proteas will want to come up with a much improved performance and put up a better fight. That's it from us then, do make sure you join us back here for the 2nd game. Till then, this is goodbye from Anurag and Pradeep.

Mitchell Marsh | Player of the Match and Australia captain: Always nice to start off a 3-match series with a win. My job is to score runs so was nice to get some today. Lot goes into it, long process with my injury. Been really nice, I love playing for Australia. The environment we've got now is the best, I love it. Nice to contribute. Tim David was fantastic, he took a couple of balls to get settled but he took the pressure off me. I think I've played too much Test cricket lately, couldn't hit sixes at the death. Tanveer Sangha is a fantastic talent, he wasn't in the squad, flew in yesterday and played so well today.

Aiden Markram | South Africa captain: The wicket played really well. We felt that we had a chance of chasing down something around 200. We were a bit rusty, it’s been a while since we played and it showed. There were glimpses of some good performances but it wasn’t enough. It’s about giving the youngsters an opportunity before the World Cup. We want it to be really competitive, we don’t like losing. The belief is there in all the players.

21:20 Local Time, 19:20 GMT, 00:50 IST: So the Australians begin their tour with a massive 111-run win. Mitch Marsh's captaincy career is off to a great start. They didn't really set a foot wrong today and it was nearly the exact opposite for the hosts, they'll be thinking how things went so horribly wrong today. Markram will probably look back at the toss, they had a chance to bat first themselves and set the tone but they gave the Australians an opportunity to do so and they grabbed it with both hands. Chasing a mammoth 227 for victory, the Proteas lost Bavuma in the very first over. There was a decent partnership between van der Dussen and Hendricks but thereafter, things started falling apart. They lost 3 wickets in a hurry and it left them reeling at 69-5 in the 9th over. A recovery from that stage was well beyond them and despite some resistance from Hendricks and Jansen, it wasn't long before the Australians cleaned up the lower order to register a massive win after a dominant performance. Earlier in the day, Mitch Marsh (92* off 49) and Tim David (64 off 28) starred with the bat to get Australia to 226/6 from their 20 overs.

Spencer Johnson to Shamsi, out Bowled!! There it is! A massive win for Australia! Full and straight on middle, Shamsi was rooted to his crease, no footwork whatsoever as he pushed at it, it went past the outside edge and slammed into off-stump to leave Shamsi looking bewildered. Sheer domination from the Aussies today. Shamsi b Spencer Johnson 0(2)

Spencer Johnson to Shamsi, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Spencer Johnson to Shamsi, wide, banged in short and down leg, Josh Inglis does well to gather that on the bounce

Spencer Johnson to Shamsi, no run, back of a length and slanting across, Shamsi hangs back looking to defend and it beats the outside edge as it goes on with the angle

Tabraiz Shamsi, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Spencer Johnson to R Hendricks, out Caught by Tim David!! The second grab does the trick! Hendricks finally falls after a valiant effort. Full on off-stump, Hendricks cleared his front-leg looking to swipe this over long-on, it went off the inner half and the bat turned in his hand, ended up going flat and to David at long-on, he ran in and juggled it once before holding on on his second grab. R Hendricks c Tim David b Spencer Johnson 56(43) [4s-5 6s-2]

Spencer Johnson to R Hendricks, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Spencer Johnson [3.0-0-32-0] is back into the attack

Hardie to R Hendricks, 1 run, low full toss on off-stump, Hendricks sits deep in his crease and drives it out towards cover, slight mis-field and they get one

Hardie to Ngidi, 1 run, slower short ball on middle, Ngidi waits for it and swats it down to deep backward square leg with a delayed pull

Hardie to R Hendricks, 1 run, length delivery on off-stump, Hendricks bunts it towards mid-off and they get through for a quick single

Hardie to R Hendricks, no run, length delivery outside off, Hendricks hangs back and misses an attempted cut

Hardie to Ngidi, 1 run, length delivery just outside off, Ngidi is rooted to his crease as he flashes at this, gets a thick outside edge that goes down to third man

Hardie to R Hendricks, 1 run, length delivery on middle, tucked away towards deep mid-wicket

Aaron Hardie, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack

Ngidi is on his haunches wincing in pain, the physio is out there trying to help him out.