AUS players wear black armbands in the memory of Bob Simpson

Australia players wore black armbands and observed a minute's silence during the third and deciding T20I in Cairns.

Australia and South Africa currently share the honours in the T20I series, with the decider being played in Cairns. Australia won the first T20I by 17 runs, while South Africa – powered by Dewald Brevis' century – won the second one by 53 runs.

Australia mourns Bob Simpson's passing

At the toss, captain Mitchell Marsh walked out wearing a black armband, which his teammates also wore, as a tribute to Bob Simpson. The former Australia captain and coach, one of the country's most influential cricketing figures, passed away earlier today at the age of 89. The players will also observe a minute's silence in Simpson's memory.

Simpson played 62 Tests for Australia, leading them in 39 of those. Along with Bill Lawry, he made one-half of a renowned opening pairing, scoring 4,869 Test runs overall, with 10 centuries and a top-score of 311. He was also a fine slip fielder, one of the best of his generation, and took 110 catches. With his leg-spin, he also accounted for 71 wickets. He coached the national team from 1986 to 1996, including the 1987 World Cup win.

CA Chair Mike Baird was quoted as saying in a release: “Bob Simpson was one of the greats of Australian cricket and this is a sad day for anyone fortunate to have watched him play or who benefited from his wisdom.

“As a brilliant opening batter, incredible slips fielder and handy spin bowler, Bob was a mainstay of a very strong Australian team in the 1960s, and he became a leader across the game as Australian and New South Wales captain and as a coach."

Australia take on South Africa in series decider

Australia made three changes to their lineup, with Nathan Ellis coming in, along with Aaron Hardie and Josh Inglis. Marsh decided to bowl first, with Aiden Markram saying they would have preferred to bat.

South Africa made a change as well, with Senuran Muthusamy coming in for Nqabayomzi Peter.

3rd T20I, Australia vs South Africa

LIVE
Australia vs South Africa | South Africa tour of Australia, 2025 | 3rd T20I
Cazaly's Stadium, Cairns
Saturday, August 16th, 2025 09:15am (UTC:+0000)
17.39C, Few Clouds, 2.37 meter/sec
AUS Australia
AUS Australia
Yet to Bat

    vs

    SA South Africa
    SA South Africa
    172/7
    (20.0) RR: 8.60

      Australia v South Africa: Playing XIs

      Australia playing XI

      Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (C), Josh Inglis (WK), Cameron Green, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

      South Africa playing XI

      Aiden Markram (C), Ryan Rickelton (WK), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi

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