The Proteas team is beginning to implement its preparation plan for the 2027 Cricket World Cup by facing their main rivals—Australia. A three-match ODI series starts on September 24th at the Kingsmead stadium in Durban.
Series in Australia and South Africa
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma and his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins are preparing to resume the confrontation at Kingsmead next week. Although South African fans have long been engrossed in the greatest rugby rivalry, it is now time for a cricket showdown that does not require artificially created stakes.
The history of the Proteas versus Australia rivalry is rich, and it does not need trophies or marketing gimmicks to make their matches intense. This history began with Allan Donald's first ball in the 1992 World Cup, went through the disappointment of Lance Klusener and Donald in Edgbaston, and, of course, culminated in the epic 438-run match at the Wanderers stadium.
However, this time the rivalry has an additional context: the home World Cup is approaching in just twelve months, and the Proteas team clearly understands what is at stake in the correct construction of team blocks.
The first ODI match of the series will take place on September 24th at Kingsmead in Durban. This stadium already hosted an exciting prelude when the Australians won by one run in the last over, leading to a decisive series match at the Bullring 21 years ago. The second match will be held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, gaining extra brightness from the annual Pink Day event, and the third match will take place in the favored city of Potchefstroom for Australia.
Previously, in Potchefstroom, in the university town of North West, the victorious team of Ricky Ponting from the 2003 class—the last time the World Cup was held in Africa—laid the foundation for its successful campaign.
A Rivalry That Recently Leaned Towards South Africa
Despite the Australians being the reigning ODI World Champions, having defeated the Proteas in the semi-finals at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on their way to a sixth title, the hosts managed to defeat their main competitors in two of the last three series.
Proteas won the home series 3-2 in 2023, managing to come back into the game after trailing 2-0. Then, last autumn on Australian soil, they confirmed this success by winning the three-match series 2-1 away. Any team would take this record with great self-respect.
Nevertheless, in this series, confidence is not as important. Shukri Conrad himself noted that since the World Cup is just over a year away, the main goal is squad formation and finding suitable combinations, not just another series victory. South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will host the 2027 ICC Men's World Cup, and all Proteas' actions in baseball cricket up to this point will be viewed through this lens.
Bavuma's Return and the Squad for the World Cup
Temba Bavuma returns to lead the ODI team after last playing in this format against India in December 2025, and his return is critically important in many areas. Every sports team in South Africa wants Siya Kolisi, and the hope is that Bavuma can create his own fairy tale with the Proteas next year.
Gerald Coetzee's recovery generates great enthusiasm—it is the first participation of a fast bowler in an ODI since South Africa participated in the 2023 World Cup in India, signaling that Conrad's coaching staff is expanding the search for suitable spearhead bowling combinations. This search is partly due to the absence of the most experienced attacking player, as Kagiso Rabada is unavailable for ODIs due to injury. His absence places the responsibility on Lungisi Ngidi, the Jansen brothers (Marco and Duane), Kwena Maphaku, Corbin Bosch, and the returning Coetzee to prove that they can lead the attack without their main weapon—this is the question of depth that the team crowned World Champion must solve in September 2026, not in the tournament group stage.
Some absences in the squad should also be noted. Dewald Brevis is not on this list, while Matthew Britzek, David Miller, and Tristan Stubbs are preferred in the middle order—although Conrad made it clear that Brevis remains in consideration and likely has a chance against Bangladesh later in the season at home. This is a reminder that the door for selection for the World Cup squad is not closed.
Conrad himself stated this plainly: since the World Cup is just over a year away, this series is an important step in squad formation and also provides an opportunity for players on the bench before visits to Bangladesh and England later in the season.
Why Australia Is Not an Easy Target
None of this focus on the World Cup should diminish the significance of what Australia brings to Durban. This is a team built on ruthless squad depth and a culture of winning major ICC tournaments. Pat Cummins' touring party arrives after its own internal discussions about the squad—Marnus Labuschagne was excluded from the ODI squad and will only return to his country of birth when red-ball matches begin.
For South Africa, a victory over Australia at home will be a significant boost to confidence, especially ahead of the long-awaited Test series.
However, the value of this series is measured not only by the number of wins. It lies in how solid Coetzee's fragile body will prove, whether the competition in the middle order between Britzek, Stubbs, and Miller will shape the World Cup picture or vice versa, and whether the attack without Rabada can withstand the world's best batting line-up.
ODI Schedule
September 24: First ODI, Kingsmead, 10 am
September 27: Second ODI, Wanderers, 10 am
September 29: Third ODI, Potchefstroom, 1:00 pm