Australia Tour of South Africa: Dates, schedule & history

With the excitement of the Ashes having drawn to a close, Australia must quickly regroup for a demanding eight-match limited-overs tour of South Africa.

The Baggy Greens will face the Proteas in three T20 internationals and then five ODIs, all crammed in within a 19-day period between late August and mid-September.

The 50-over contests will take on a greater degree of importance due to the World Cup being hosted by India set to get underway in early October.

India are 11/5 to lift the trophy on home soil, with Australia priced at 4/1, South Africa available at 10/1 and holders England 3/1.

What	South Africa v Australia limited-overs series
Where	South Africa
When	30th August - 17th September
How to watch	Fox Cricket, Kayo

Tour Schedule

Wednesday 30th August - 1st T20I (N), Durban
Friday 1st September - 2nd T20I (N), Durban
Sunday 3rd September - 3rd T20I, Durban

Thursday 7th September - 1st ODI (D/N), Bloemfontein
Saturday 9th September - 2nd ODI (D/N), Bloemfontein
Tuesday 12th September - 3rd ODI (D/N), Bloemfontein
Friday 15th September - 4th ODI (D/N), Centurion
Sunday 17th September - 5th ODI, Johannesburg

The entire T20I series will be played at Kingsmead in Durban, with the quick turnaround between the three games making it impractical to travel to different venues.

The first two matches have teatime starts, with the series finale a regular day fixture.

The first three one-day internationals - all of which are day/night contests - will then be staged at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, before the final two games of the tour take place at SuperSport Park, Centurion and then Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Recent limited-overs form impressive

Having been challenged hugely during an Ashes series in England which eventually ended 2-2 - meaning Australia retained the little urn - the Baggy Greens have a fresh challenge in white-ball cricket just around the corner.

A number of Test regulars may be given a break rather than heading to South Africa, but with the World Cup just a matter of months away there is a need to make sure plans are firmly in place for the global event.

Australia are in fine form in ODI cricket, having won 11 of their last 13 matches, including coming from behind to claim a 2-1 series victory in India in March in their most recent outing.

Their T20I record reads three wins out of three in their most recently completed matches, although they have not played at all in the format since November 2022.

Proteas dominate in ODI arena

South Africa will certainly be confident when the 50-over contests come around as they have a somewhat surprisingly dominant record against Australia in that format in recent times.

The Proteas have won 11 of the last 12 ODIs between the two teams and are a perfect eight out of eight on home soil during that time.

A 5-0 series win in 2016 was followed by a 3-0 sweep four years later, which was the last time Australia faced South Africa in 50-over cricket.

Home batter Heinrich Klaasen was the undoubted star of the show in 2020, as he made scores of 123 not out, 51 and 68 not out across the three victories, with Marnus Labuschagne topping the averages for the tourists.

The Aussie squad for that series appears to be largely the same group of players who will be involved this time around, so many of them will have a point to prove.

And despite more recent problems in ODI cricket in South Cricket, the overall record between the two sides in that country reads 20 wins for Australia and 25 wins for the Proteas.

T20 form favours Baggy Greens

While the Proteas have had the better of recent ODI contests, Australia have won five of the last seven T20I meetings between the two sides, with four of those victories having come on South African soil.

The last meeting of the two teams in the 20-over format came in Abu Dhabi in October 2021, at the T20 World Cup.

A low-soring affair ended in a five-wicket victory for Australia, who reached 121-5 with just two balls remaining thanks to all-rounder Marcus Stoinis hitting ten runs from the first four deliveries of the final over from paceman Anrich Nortje.