Australia bat first in Harare without Cameron Green as Mitchell Marsh plays his 100th ODI

Australia chose to bat in Harare without Cameron Green as Mitchell Marsh led the side into his 100th one-day international

Australia began their first ODI series in Zimbabwe since 2014 a bowler short, with Green left out of the opening match by right shoulder soreness and Josh Hazlewood held back with next month's three Tests against South Africa in mind.

Marsh called correctly on a sunny Tuesday morning at the Harare Sports Club and elected to bat on a surface locals described as unusually grassy. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said he would have bowled first.

The two absences opened a place for Spencer Johnson, playing his first 50-over match for Australia since the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Two absences with South Africa in mind

Green has carried right shoulder soreness through the week. He has batted in the nets but managed only a light bowl on Sunday, and was restricted to running drills on the outfield before play on Tuesday. Australia's camp has indicated the problem is not serious.

Hazlewood's omission was planned rather than forced. Selectors have made no secret of wanting him at his best for the Test series, and the same thinking keeps Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc away until the one-day matches against South Africa next week.

Johnson returned to the national side for three T20Is against Bangladesh earlier this year, but had not played a 50-over match for Australia since the 2025 Champions Trophy.

A young order asked to cover the overs

Oliver Peake kept his place after a promising debut tour of the subcontinent earlier this year, while Cooper Connolly was listed at No.3, three months after making his maiden international century from the top of the order against Bangladesh.

Marsh and Travis Head, both absent from that tour, returned to open the batting.

Green's absence leaves Australia short of bowling options in the top seven. Connolly's left-arm spin will be needed, the allrounder having come through a back injury that stopped him bowling for the past five months, while Peake, Head and Matthew Renshaw can each turn an arm over.

Marsh reaches 100 one-day caps

The Australia captain brought up his 100th ODI appearance in the opening match of the three-game series.

He leads a side in transition, with Josh Inglis, Renshaw, Peake and Connolly among those looking to settle into an XI before the 2027 ODI World Cup, a tournament Zimbabwe will co-host with South Africa and Namibia.

Zimbabwe carry two recent wins over Australia

Zimbabwe have won the last two meetings between the sides, at the T20 World Cup in Colombo earlier this year and in the third ODI of their 2022 tour of Australia in Townsville.

"As much as Townsville will remain an inspiration, once you put on the national jersey, then I think you cannot bank on just one game," Raza told reporters on Monday. "Certainly a lot of belief is going into the boys that playing in front of our home crowd, in our home conditions as well."

"We all know that when we put on the jersey, we want to earn the respect and the seat at the high table for other countries to pay attention to Zimbabwe," he added. "That's where the aim is for us."

Raza named Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine in a top order also carrying Brian Bennett, Ben Curran and Innocent Kaia, with Blessing Muzarabani leading the attack.

A ground that rarely yields big scores

Harare is not generally a high-scoring venue, where the average first-innings score is 231.

Zimbabwe have also been among the most conservative one-day sides since the 2023 World Cup, no team having recorded a higher defensive shot percentage over that period, at 23 per cent, according to CricViz.

A public holiday for the President's Birthday was expected to draw a sizeable crowd to the ground.

The series continues at the Harare Sports Club on September 18 and September 20.

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