Ellis bowled four overs at the Wanderers, and Australia go to Potchefstroom with four fit quicks

Nathan Ellis bowled four overs at the Wanderers on Sunday, 27 September, before a side strain took him off the field. He is now on his way home, and so is spinner Joel Davies, who pulled a hamstring while fielding as a substitute in the same game. Neither has been replaced for the third ODI at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom, which starts at 1.30pm local time (5pm IST) today.

That leaves Australia with four fit fast bowlers for a match that no longer decides anything. South Africa won by 67 runs in Durban and by 32 in Johannesburg, so the series is already theirs.

Cummins and Starc are expected back

The four are Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Xavier Bartlett. Cummins sat out the first two ODIs and is expected to return. His last ODI was the nine-wicket defeat to Pakistan in Adelaide on 8 November 2024. Starc was rested at the Wanderers and should come back in too. Hazlewood has played both games and may be the one left out, with Bartlett expected to keep his place.

Jack Edwards, who took 5 for 67 at the Wanderers in only his second ODI, is in the squad but carrying a hamstring concern that the medical staff are monitoring. It was the first five-wicket haul of his List A career, and it included both of South Africa’s centurions, Temba Bavuma and David Miller.

The injury list is getting long

Ellis and Davies are the third and fourth players to leave this tour. Billy Stanlake went home with a side strain from the Zimbabwe leg, and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis broke a finger in the Durban ODI.

Ellis is the bigger loss. He has 22 ODI wickets this year at an average of 17.22. He goes home for assessment and rehab, with the home white-ball series against England, which starts on 13 November, as the target. Davies had travelled as Adam Zampa’s back-up spinner, did not play a game, and will return to domestic cricket with New South Wales once his hamstring heals.

Why a dead rubber still matters to Australia

The Test series starts at Kingsmead on 9 October, with St George’s Park and Newlands to follow. Cummins skipped the Zimbabwe leg as well as the first two ODIs, so Potchefstroom will be his first game of the tour. The forecast is for cloud and passing showers, which could give him some help with the new ball if it doesn’t cut the overs first.

The bigger worry for Australia is the batting. They were bowled out for 230 in Durban, and at the Wanderers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head put on 130 for the first wicket before the middle order fell away and they finished 32 short of 365. That problem does not go away when the red ball comes out.

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