Cricket · Southern Africa · series wrap
Harare done. Australia 3–0. Proteas Women 5–0. South Africa ODIs open tomorrow.
Men’s white-ball tour closed with a one-wicket escape in the third ODI. Women’s T20Is in Bulawayo finished a clean sweep. Cummins and Starc join for the SA leg from Kingsmead.
Australia’s Zimbabwe ODI series is finished: 3–0, all at Harare Sports Club. The third match went to the last ball — Inglis’s hundred and a tenth-wicket stand with Spencer Johnson dragged Australia home after Marsh said Zimbabwe probably deserved to win. On the women’s side, South Africa completed a 5–0 T20I sweep of Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. Next for the men: ODIs against South Africa, starting Thursday 24 September, 6:00pm AEST at Kingsmead. Sources by match below.
Men’s ODIs — Australia sweep Zimbabwe 3–0
1st ODI · 15 September · Harare Sports Club. Australia 294/8 (Matt Renshaw 109 — maiden ODI hundred; Cooper Connolly 51; Newman Nyamhuri 5-62) beat Zimbabwe 235 (Craig Ervine 59, Sikandar Raza 57; Nathan Ellis 5-31) by 59 runs. Series 1–0. Source: ESPNcricinfo.
2nd ODI · 18 September · Harare Sports Club. Australia 356/6 (Travis Head 112 off 84) beat Zimbabwe 272 by 84 runs. Series 2–0. Source: cricket.com.au.
3rd ODI · 20 September · Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe 271/8 (Raza 81*, Ervine 59, Tadiwanashe Kaia 55 retired hurt; Ellis 3-50). Australia 272/9 (Josh Inglis 103 off 102, Ellis 36*; Brad Evans 4-47) won by 1 wicket with 1 ball remaining — a tenth-wicket partnership of 27 between Ellis and Spencer Johnson. Series 3–0. Marsh after the match: Zimbabwe probably deserved to win. Sources: ESPNcricinfo; The Hindu; AP.
Squad notes — Cummins and Starc for the SA ODIs
Mitchell Marsh captained the Zimbabwe leg. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc join for South Africa. Josh Hazlewood is across both white-ball legs. Marnus Labuschagne was omitted from the ODIs and remains in the Test squad. Cummins captains the Tests. Source: cricket.com.au squad listing.
Next — South Africa ODIs (AEST)
24 September — Kingsmead, Durban, 6:00pm AEST
27 September — Wanderers, Johannesburg, 6:00pm AEST
30 September — Potchefstroom (day-night), 9:30pm AEST
Warm-up roughly 3–4 October at Potchefstroom, then the October Tests. Source: Cricket Australia / ABC tour slate.
Stage still ahead — South Africa Tests: the ranking swing
9–13 October — Durban
18–22 October — St George’s Park, Gqeberha
27–31 October — Newlands, Cape Town
First Australia Test tour of South Africa since March 2018. Newlands is again the third Test. South Africa are the World Test Championship holders. Seven rating points keep Australia atop men’s Tests — a thin cushion on the road. Source: ABC (tour history); AP (WTC); Sportstar / ICC rankings mid-September.
Women’s — Proteas complete 5–0 T20I sweep of Zimbabwe
South Africa Women swept Zimbabwe Women 5–0 in the T20Is at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. Series notes earlier in the set: Laura Wolvaardt’s record 126* in the 3rd T20I; Annerie Dercksen’s maiden five-for. Sources: SA Cricket Mag; SuperSport.
Final · Saturday ~19 September. South Africa 164/6 (Reyneke 34*, Bosch 33, Smit 30; Wolvaardt 7) beat Zimbabwe 151/8 by about 13 runs (Nini 3-19, Hlubi 3-22). Margin preference: SA Cricket Mag (13 runs); if SuperSport differs, the desk keeps Mag’s figure and notes both. Sources: SA Cricket Mag; SuperSport.
ICC rankings — as of mid-September 2026
Label: tables below are as of mid-September 2026; they move after each series. Women have no separate Test team rankings.
Men’s Tests (Sportstar after Eng–Pak, ~13 Sep 2026):
1. Australia — 126
2. South Africa — 119
3. New Zealand — 106
4. India — 105
5. England — 102
Seven rating points keep Australia on top. That is the thesis of the October Test stage.
Men’s ODIs (ForCric / NRI ~Sep): India clear on top at about 116; New Zealand ~109; Australia and South Africa sit in the chasing pack around ~102 — still top five, not the board leaders.
Men’s T20Is: India and England joint top at 268; Australia third at 260.
Women’s ODIs (Wikipedia / ESPNcricinfo mid-Sep):
1. Australia — 163
2. England — ~125–126
3. India — 124
4. South Africa — 100
5. New Zealand — 96
Women’s T20Is:
1. Australia — 291
2. England — 276
3. India — 263
4. New Zealand — 249
5. South Africa — 245
Australia remain top five across the men’s formats and clear at the top of both women’s white-ball boards. Sources: Sportstar / ICC; ForCric / NRI; Wikipedia / ESPNcricinfo mid-Sep snapshots.
What this item is not
Not a preview of unfinished Harare games — the men’s series is closed 3–0. Not a predicted SA ODI or Test scoreline. Not invented medical timelines. Women’s final margin follows SA Cricket Mag (13 runs) where sources conflict. Paid NFL stays on the weekly.
Sources: ESPNcricinfo (1st and 3rd ODI Harare); cricket.com.au (2nd ODI, squad); The Hindu; AP; Cricket Australia / ABC tour slate; SA Cricket Mag; SuperSport (women’s series / final); Sportstar / ICC men’s Test ratings ~13 Sep 2026; ForCric / NRI men’s ODI ~Sep; Wikipedia / ESPNcricinfo women’s boards mid-Sep. Rankings labelled mid-September 2026 and will move after each series. Desk colour labelled where it is framing, not a box-score fact.