South Africa 338 for 6 (Markram 102*, De Kock 82, Bavuma 57, Head 2-39) vs Australia

Australia sent down a mixed bag of deliveries but found the most success when they took pace off the ball. Marcus Stoinis, who opened the bowling, bowled a short spell in the first 20 overs and then returned at the end, had the most success and was the only seamer to concede less than six runs an over. Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis were all inconsistent and Tanveer Sangha, on debut, was expensive but Travis Head was in a class of his own. His ten overs cost only 39 runs and he took two crucial wickets which was the difference between a score above 350 and one below it.

South Africa started slowly with just 11 runs off the first four overs as Stonis and Hazlewood stuck to hard lengths and found a touch of extra bounce. Bavuma was the unlikely initial aggressor and capitalised on width, an overpitched delivery and then just showed his class with a cover drive off a Hazlewood over that cost 12. De Kock was far more sedate and scored only three runs off the first 18 balls he faced before he picked up a Hazlewood delivery that was just short of a good length and sent it over square leg for the innings' first six.

That shot opened the floodgates and South Africa went on to bring up fifty inside nine overs and finish the Powerplay with a strong base on 64 without loss. De Kock accelerated past Bavuma, latched onto anything short and brought up a 48-ball fifty in the 15th over, his first ODI half-century in 11 innings. Bavuma reached the fourth fifty of his career, off 52 balls, soon after and now boasts an ODI average of 91.00 from nine matches this year.

With the pair in imperious form, Australia found themselves challenged for the first time in the series and responded by turning to offspin. Head seemed to find some grip in the surface and opened with an over that cost only two runs. In his second over, he placed one slightly wider and de Kock went for the cut but played too early and sliced it to David Warner and backward point. Seven balls later, Bavuma sent a Sangha ball straight to Mitch Marsh in the covers to give the legspinner his first ODI wicket and put pressure on a middle-order that has not quite fired as hoped.

Sangha nearly had a second when Markram, on 2, edged a ball between the wicketkeeper and slip and neither could get to it. Markram got four instead and went on to make the most of the missed chance. He put on 76 with Hendricks, who took on anything overpitched and rotated strike well until he chanced Marnus Labuschagne's arm. Hendricks pushed Nathan Ellis into the covers and wanted the run but Labuschagne picked up cleanly and found Hendricks short of his ground. One became two for Australia again when four balls later Klaasen tried to sweep Head, missed and was given out lbw. He reviewed in vain.

Australia dragged South Africa back from a scoring rate of around 6.5 runs to the over, to just under six runs and they entered the last ten overs on 242 for 4. At that stage, South Africa had not found the boundary for six overs. Another eight balls followed, with only two singles, and the pressure on Miller grew. He walked down the pitch to meet a Stoinis delivery and tried to smash it over the leg side but only managed a leading edge. Marsh judged the catch well as he ran backwards from mid-on.

Jansen had his opportunity in the spotlight in front of his home crowd when he took on Ellis. He cleared long-on, threaded him behind square and hooked over mid-wicket before he tried to hit him over the covers. Abbott extended his left arm, held on one-handed and managed to stay inside the boundary as he dived forward with the ball still in hand. The catch needed several relooks but was confirmed clean and Jansen's cameo ended on 32.

Magala, who is back in the side after missing the previous two matches with a knee injury, did his bit to give Markram as much of the strike as he could. His most important single was off the penultimate ball of the innings when he dug out a yorker to ensure Markram could face on 98. Markram drilled Hazlewood down the ground to bring up his hundred but described his innings as "frustrating," to the host broadcaster because of the changes in pace Australia presented.