South African skipper AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis shared a record 206 runs third wicket stand, which the highest for South Africa against Australia and the highest at the venue..
Initiating the chase Quinton de Kock (19) and Hashim Amla(24) wiped away 44 runs in seven overs before Australia grabbed the upper-hand. Amla was first man to depart; De Kock followed him to leave South Africa stuttering at 51-2 in 9 overs.
But de Villiers and du Plessis played with a combination of watchfulness and aggressiveness kept South Africa in the hunt. De Villiers, whom Australia dropped twice, scored unbeaten 136 that came off in 106 balls.
Du Plessis scored his maiden ODI hundred. He took 98 balls to score 106.
When JP Duminy came in to bat, South Africa were needed 91 runs from 77 balls. He played a controlled inning scoring 33 off 29 balls taking SA to victory along with de Villiers with 20 balls remaining.
Earlier, Australia batting first scored 327 in 50 overs. Aaron Finch scored 102, Philip Hughes 51 and Captain George Bailey 66.
Steven Smith scoring 31 off 19 and Mitchell Johnson’s 23 off 8 allowed Australia to score past 300.
South Africa’s spinner Imran Tahir was the most successful bowler of the day. He conceded only 45 in 10-over spell and took 2 wickets.
