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The Australia National Cricket Team is on a tour to South Africa. They are playing a three-match ODI series; the second match of the series is on Sunday at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Cooper Connolly took a sensational catch off Josh Hazlewood’s delivery at cover point on the very first ball of the match to dismiss opener Aiden Makram.
South Africa has already taken a lead in the three-match series, after winning the first game by 67 runs. It was a collapse of the Australian team in the middle order after a solid 90-run partnership for the first wicket between Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head. They crumbled in the middle order from 129-2; they were bowled out for 230 runs.
Cooper Connolly takes a blinder to dismiss Aiden Markram
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl first. On the first ball, Josh Hazlewood ran in, and the ball was short outside off; Aiden Markram tried to capitalize and played it in the air as it bounced a bit, and Connolly, fielding in the cover-point region, leaped and took a one-handed blinder.
Aiden Markram, after getting dismissed on the very first ball, became the sixth South Africa batter to achieve the unwanted record. This is the first time that he got out on the first ball of an ODI match. He would not want to remember this record as he came back strong in the third and final ODI of the series.
Watch the video here:
Markram's stay was cut short immediately thanks to this grab pic.twitter.com/GyDosOkhQW
— Werner (@Werries_) September 27, 2026
South African batter to be dismissed on the first ball of an ODI match
Herschelle Gibbs vs James Franklin (NZ), Brisbane, 2002
Herschelle Gibbs vs Wasim Akram (PAK), Tangier, 2002
Hashim Amla vs Doug Bollinger (AUS), Gqeberha, 2011
Hashim Amla vs Mohammed Irfan (PAK), Durban, 2013
Janneman Malan vs Mitchell Starc (AUS), Paarl, 2020
Aiden Markram vs Josh Hazlewood (AUS), Jo’burg, 2026*
Aiden Markram record against Josh Hazlewood
This is the first time that Aiden Markram has been dismissed by Josh Hazlewood. In 9 innings, the Proteas T20I captain has a good record against the veteran pacer and has scored runs as well.
Markram has scored 82 runs in the 72 balls that he has faced against the Aussie pacer and has a strike rate of 113.9, which showcases the dominance of the batter in this format against one of the best bowlers of this generation.
Aiden Markram vs Hazlewood in ODIs
Innings: 9
Runs: 82
Balls: 72
Dismissals: 1 (today)
SR: 113.9
dot%: 54.1
Coming into the match, South Africa has lost both their openers, Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock, inside the powerplay. Skipper Temba Bavuma and last match hero Matthew Breetzke are at the crease, looking to stitch a good partnership for the third wicket so that they can post a good total. So far, the score is 51/2 in 10 overs.
"It’s one of the games that we really look forward to": Temba Bavuma on Pink Day in South Africa
During the toss, Temba Bavuma talked about Pink Day in South Africa, which is an annual flagship event where the Proteas men's team and fans wear pink to raise awareness and critical funds for breast cancer detection and treatment. He said that it is a good event that has been carried out to raise awareness against Breast Cancer.
Bavuma said (as quoted by Cricbuzz), "[How does that work into your plans?] Yeah, I think it can. We’re just going to have to adapt to what is in front of us. It can be a bit tricky the first hour or so with that new ball, so we look to get through that and as we did in the first game, find a way to get a competitive score on the board."
He said, "[Talk to us about the significance of the Pink day] Yeah, I think from a player point of view, it’s one of the games that we really look forward to, turning out in pink, and obviously in terms of the cause, raising awareness, which is playing towards breast cancer."
