The teenager has been in sensational form in the last three months
Kwena Maphaka has been added to South Africa’s ODI squad for the three-match series against Australia starting from Tuesday in Cairns.
Maphaka’s superb form in the T20I series Down Under has led to his inclusion in the squad for the ODIs.
The 19-year old started off the year with a poor SA20 2024-25 for Paarl Royals as he claimed six wickets from nine matches at an economy of 9.51.
He was roped in for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by Rajasthan Royals and played two games at the toe end of the season where he returned figures of 1-32 against Punjab Kings and 0-22 against Chennai Super Kings.
In the lone Test against Zimbabwe, Maphaka went wicketless in both innings but hit the ground running with the T20I Tri-series against New Zealand claiming three wickets from three matches at an economy of 8.
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Against Australia, the left-armer turned on the style with a spell of 4-20 in the first match at Darwin followed by 3-57 in the second match and 2-36 in the third T20I at Cairns.
Even though South Africa lost the series 2-1 by a small margin in the final T20I, Maphaka’s haul of nine wickets got him a place in the ODI series squad.
Maphaka has already made his ODI debut last year against Pakistan and has five wickets from two matches so far.
South Africa will see the return of captain Temba Bavuma after he recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered during the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against Australia in June.
Young batting sensation Dewald Brevis is also in line to make his ODI debut after registering scores of 125 not out and 53 in the last two T20Is.
Meanwhile, Australia have the challenge to seek replacements for Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell who had recently announced ODI retirement.
This is also South Africa’s first bilateral ODI series in Australia since 2018 which they had won 2-1. The last two ODI series were played in South Africa, which were also won by the Proteas. They both faced off in a ODI during the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal which Australia won by three wickets.
