Australia’s T20 World Cup journey has kicked off in winning fashion with Aaron Finch’s side narrowly beating South Africa in Abu Dhabi.
Victory was confirmed just after midnight on Sunday (AEDT) with Marcus Stoinis hitting a boundary on the third-last ball to chase down The Proteas’ target of 119.
It was the bowlers who set up the win, with Josh Hazlewood continuing his strong IPL form earning man of the match for his 2/19 off four overs.
He was helped by Pat Cummins (four overs, one wicket for 17 runs), and Adam Zampa (four overs, two wickets for 21 runs) at the side’s key trio went for less than a run a ball each.
While it appeared like the Australians would comfortably get their target in 20 overs, the loss of David Warner for 14, Finch for nought and Mitchell Marsh for 11 had the side reeling at 3/38 from 7.5 overs.
Steve Smith’s steady run-a-ball 35 got the chase back on favourable terms with Stoinis (24 not out) and Matthew Wade (15 not out) finishing the job.
Pitted in a group of death, the Aussies next face Sri Lanka on Friday morning (AEDT).