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Sydney: Cameron White has guided Australia to a two-wicket wicket win over South Africa to take out the KFC T20 International series 2-1.
The match came down to the wire with the hosts needing three off the final over with three wickets in hand, and when Sean Abbott (4) was lbw to Kyle Abbott from the fourth-last delivery, tailender Cameron Boyce was left on strike with two still required.
Boyce got bat to ball from the first delivery he faced, and scampered through for a single, leaving White (41 not out from 31 balls) to follow suit as the pair scrambled the winning run with a ball to spare.
Earlier, in what had been labelled #TheDecider on social media, Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to field as temperatures began to drop in Sydney’s western suburbs.
Off-spinner Glenn Maxwell was handed the second over by Finch, and with the two-paced nature of the pitch coupled with Australia’s athleticism in the field, scoring seemed difficult again for the visitors.
De Kock eased the building pressure with the first six of the night, attacking allrounder James Faulkner and Stadium Australia’s short straight boundaries in the fourth over.
More boundaries followed the next over when Hendricks pasted two either side of the wicket, and when de Kock dispatched Bollinger over mid-on with a real sense of youthful arrogance, the momentum was in the possession of the visitors.
By the eighth over, Finch had used five different bowlers, but was yet to unleash his star quick from Melbourne, Pat Cummins. The 21-year-old screamed in from 20 paces full of energy, and after being smashed for a one-handed six, Cummins put an end to de Kock’s knock, with the keeper-batsman falling two short of his 50 as Australia grabbed the much-needed breakthrough.
The home side had their second wicket two overs later when game one tormentor Rilee Rossouw holed out to Abbott at long-on to go for four off four and swing the momentum back to Australia.
Bollinger returned in the 16th over to deny Hendricks his 50 when the opening batsman’s pull stroke found its way onto the stumps to light up the Zing bails like Christmas.
Faulkner had been good all night and was rewarded when he grabbed three quick wickets to have the tourists 5-134 in the penultimate over.
Cummins was thrown the ball for the last over and, bowling to a packed leg-side field, he and his fieldsmen were able to keep Miller off strike to see the final over go for only five.
Australia's response began rapidly thanks to Finch.
Attacking his gum like a masticating West Indian master blaster, the skipper cranked Marchant de Lange through midwicket with a pair of pull shots that would have made Viv himself proud.
The Victorian then decided to go aerial, launching left-arm speedster Wayne Parnell flat and long over wide extra cover then high and handsome over long-on to put the pressure back on his opposing number Duminy.
And the Proteas skipper responded, setting a short fine-leg and sucking in Finch to play a false hook stroke. It was a well-executed plan by the pumped-up Wiese and well caught by de Lange as Australia’s premier T20 batsman exited for 33 off 25 balls.
It was then left to Dunk to play the aggressor and first in his crosshairs was left-arm orthodox spinner Robin Pietersen. Dunk dashed down the wicket to go long for six before bowler outsmarted batsman next ball, firing in a faster delivery to take a reflex return catch and see the keeper-batsman on his way for 14 (8).
Australia’s run chase was mimicking their rivals. After starting with a flurry, regular wickets slowed the scoring and brought the fielding team back in the contest, and when Maddinson (chopping on Wiese for four) and Watson (skying Peterson to Miller at cover for five) fell in quick time, the Proteas were in the box seat.
Sydney’s crowd of 24,187 put their faith in a pair of Victorians, and the early signs looked good when Cameron White lent on a straight drive for four, before crunching Parnell’s wayward short ball behind square for another boundary.
And if those shots weren't impressive enough, Maxwell upstaged his former state captain with a monster six straight down the ground, followed up by a trademark reverse sweep for four to wrestle the impetus back to the hosts at 4-90 after 11 overs.
But there were be more turns in this tale, as Maxwell hit towards deep midwicket and was caught by a sprinting Parnell to give Peterson his third scalp and once again flip the match on its head.
While one Victorian was gone, one remained, and White was determined to see Australia home, beginning with an 85-metre mow over mid-off for six to bring the equation to 32 from the final 30 balls.
The math got simpler for the hosts when White clipped de Lange neatly for four and Faulkner went big over long-on, but just when a favourite became clear, Faulkner picked out Miller at deep mid-on to depart for 9 (8) and leave the match in the balance.
More drama followed when Cummins fell to the impressive Wiesse, caught and bowled for 3 (7), and when Abbott walked to the crease, 11 were needed from 14 balls.
With two overs left, Duminy gambled and gave the ball to Parnell, who had gone for 32 runs in his three overs. The runs kept flowing when Abbott glided the left-armer for four to third man while White patiently worked singles to leave three needed off the final over.
And while the Australians did it the hard way from the final five frenetic deliveries, the series is theirs, with the home side impressively bouncing back from an Adelaide hammering to take finish on top of the South Africans, 2-1.
Earlier, Australia have won the toss and have opted to field.
Australia have made one change to their side - Nic Maddinson coming in for Nathan Reardon. South Africa have shaken things up after being hammered in MCG, with David Weise, Robin Peterson and Marchant de Lange all coming into the XI.
Teams
Australia: Aaron Finch (Capt.), Ben Dunk (wk), Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson, Cameron White, James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Cameron Boyce, Doug Bollinger
South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Jean-Paul Duminy (Capt.), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Marchant de Lange
Brief scores
South Africa - 145/6 (Hendricks 49, de Kock 48, Miller 34*, Faulkner 3-28)
Australia - 146/8 (White 41*, Finch 33, Wiese 3-21, Peterson 3-28)
Result - Australia won by 2 wickets
MOM - Cameron White (Australia)
Player of the series - James Faulkner (Australia)
