Overview
- Neil Brand scored 152 for the Cricket South Africa Invitation XI in Potchefstroom, anchoring the hosts to 318 for 7 before they declared.
- Marnus Labuschagne hit 111 off 89 balls for Australia and retired out in the reply as the teams finished the two-day warm-up drawn.
- Australia used 11 bowlers in the non-first-class fixture to limit individual workloads and give multiple bowlers match practice.
- All-rounder Cameron Green did not play in the warm-up and remains a fitness doubt for the first Test, while South Africa are weighing pace options including a possible return for Anrich Nortje.
- The Potchefstroom run-outs are the final tune-up before the three-Test series that begins at Kingsmead in Durban on October 9, and the performances will influence selection decisions ahead of a series with World Test Championship implications and the first Australian tour of South Africa since 2018.