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Melbourne: A frugal bowling performance by Australia has laid the foundation for a comfortable seven-wicket win against South Africa in the second KFC T20 international at MCG on Friday.
On a hard and true MCG pitch, the Proteas total of 101 for never appeared enough, and it proved the case, as Australia cruised home with 44 balls to spare thanks largely to Aaron Finch's unbeaten 44 (30).
Opener Ben Dunk made 23 (20), while Shane Watson crunched five boundaries - including four from one Ryan McLaren over - in his 23-ball 30.
Earlier, a streak of 56 balls without conceding a boundary highlighted the hosts' dominance with the ball, as James Faulkner (3-25) and man of the match Cameron Boyce (2-15) put the clamps on the Proteas innings.
South Africa captain JP Duminy was the only batsman to make it past 19, top-scoring with 49 off 51 as Australia's fielders swept the expansive MCG outfield with authority and haste.
Doug Bollinger struck early, removing wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock for a second ball duck.
Fresh from his man-of-the-match performance in game one, Rilee Rossouw picked up where he left off, hammering Bollinger for two fours before pulling left-arm allrounder James Faulkner off the front foot in front of square for four more.
The young South African offered Australia a golden chance in Adelaide, so when Faulkner's wayward slower ball down leg extracted a leading edge, the Tasmanian made sure to snaffle the offering, sending Rossouw back to the pavilion for 12.
Returning NSW Blues allrounder Sean Abbott conceded two boundaries in his first over, the fifth of the match, one each to Duminy and opening batsman Reeza Hendricks to the same part of the outfield but differing sides of the batsman's stance.
Having reached 36 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.
The pressure built up by Cummins paid dividends next over when Hendricks came down the track in search of the release shot to leg-spinner Cameron Boyce, but missed a sharp leg-break to be stumped neatly by Ben Dunk for 18 (22).
Farhaan Behardien fell in to the same trap that Hendricks succumbed to, stumped Dunk, bowled Boyce for 5 (10) looking to up the ante as the balls remaining began evaporating in the warm Melbourne twilight.
With five overs to go, South Africa were well below par at 71 for 4, and continued to struggle to get Boyce away, with the leg-spinner finishing with tidy figures of 2-15 from four overs.
Earlier, South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat.
South Africa have named an unchanged squad. Australia have made a couple of changes -- Glenn Maxwell in for Ben Cutting and Sean Abbott in for Kane Richardson.
Teams
Australia: Aaron Finch (Capt.), Cameron White, Shane Watson, Ben Dunk (wk), Nathan Reardon, James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Cameron Boyce, Doug Bollinger
South Africa: Jean-Paul Duminy (Capt,), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Ryan McLaren, Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada
Brief scores
South Africa - 101/7 (Duminy 49, Faulkner 3-25, Boyce 2-15)
Australia - 102/3 (Finch 44*, Watson 23, Parnell 2-17)
Result - Australia won by 7 wickets (with 44 balls remaining)
MOM - Cameron Boyce (Australia)
