Australia’s maiden bilateral women’s tour of South Africa has been rescheduled by a week, with the all-format series now set to run from 24 March to 18 April 2027 instead of the originally planned 18 March to 11 April window. The shift allows both sides to take part in the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy in India from 14 to 28 February 2027.
The tour will be a landmark for South African women’s cricket: Laura Wolvaardt’s side will host Sophie Molineux’s Australia in a bilateral series for the first time, across three T20Is, three ODIs and a one-off Test. The four-day Test at Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium in KuGompo City will also be the first women’s Test staged at the venue.
Champions Trophy Drives Rescheduling
The International Cricket Council moved the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy to 14–28 February 2027, having originally slated it for June 2026. The six-team T20I tournament will be held at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium, with Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka competing in a round-robin league; the top two will meet in the final on 28 February.
Because Australia and South Africa are both on the field in the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa realigned the bilateral tour around the global event. “Hosting a heralded team like Australia will always be a special occasion, let alone doing so for the first time,” said Cricket South Africa Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki. “We are very appreciative of the work put in by both Cricket South Africa and Cricket Australia to ensure the tour’s new dates were confirmed following the scheduling of the ICC Women’s Champions Trophy.”
The change has already reshaped Australia’s home summer. Their T20I series against Amelia Kerr’s New Zealand was brought forward from February to 18–22 October 2026, with Australia winning 2-0 after rain washed out the third T20I. Their ODIs against New Zealand have been pushed into the first 10 days of March 2027.
Australia arrive as reigning ICC Women’s T20 World Cup champions, having won their 7th title in England earlier in 2026, while South Africa reached the semi-finals before falling to the hosts. The Champions Trophy will therefore offer an early preview of two of the tournament’s leading contenders, before their rivalry moves to South African soil.
Their Test history is strikingly brief. Australia and South Africa have met only once in the format, at the WACA Ground in February 2024, when Australia won by an innings and 284 runs to seal the multi-format series 12-4. The upcoming Test in KuGompo City will be only their second, underlining how significant this tour is for the women’s game.
There is also a poignant scheduling twist: Cape Town’s Newlands, where Australia lifted the 2023 T20 World Cup, does not feature on the itinerary. Australia will, however, return to Paarl and Gqeberha, both 2023 T20 World Cup venues, for the second and third ODIs, while Durban, Kimberley, Benoni and Potchefstroom will be new bilateral-tour venues for them.
Australia Tour of South Africa 2027 Schedule:
1st T20I – 24 March 2027, Kimberley
2nd T20I – 27 March 2027, Benoni
3rd T20I – 30 March 2027, Potchefstroom
1st ODI – 3 April 2027, Durban
2nd ODI – 7 April 2027, Paarl
3rd ODI – 10 April 2027, Gqeberha
One-off Test – 15–18 April 2027, Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium, KuGompo City
The ODIs carry added weight as part of the ICC Women’s Championship pathway towards the 2029 ODI World Cup. With a historic first bilateral tour, a fresh Test venue and the Champions Trophy preceding it, the revised window gives South Africa and Australia a high-stakes, multi-format chapter in early 2027.
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