Australia win series after Cameron White holds nerve in T20 thriller

He took a single from the fifth ball of a tense final over, superbly bowled by Kyle Abbott, to carry Australia past South Africa’s tally in a breathless finish. White won the man of the match award.

Australia had needed 10 runs from the last two overs with three wickets in hand and three runs from the final over in the gripping conclusion.

White took a single from the first ball of the final over, exposing No. 9 Sean Abbott to the wiles of his namesake Kyle Abbott who bowled his first three overs at a cost of only 17 runs. Proteas captain J.P. Duminy used only five bowlers, including Wayne Parnell who gave up 43 runs from his four overs.

Sean Abbott played and missed at the second delivery and was then trapped lbw by the third — Abbott lbw to Abbott — to leave White to negotiate an unexpectedly tense finish. No. 10 Cameron Boyle managed to spar the fourth delivery to point and White just reclaimed the strike as Robin Peterson’s throw grazed the stumps at the striker’s ends.

The Clincher

White then struck the fifth ball of the over — the penulimate ball of the match — firmly into the on side for the single that clinched Australia’s victory.

“It got a bit twitchy there didn’t I?’’ White said. “I think it was probably set up by the bowlers again. I’m just glad we got over the line at the end.’’

Earlier, South Africa seemed headed for a commanding total after being sent into bat when Quintin de Kock (48) and Reeza Hendricks (49) put on 75 for the first wicket in 8.4 overs. But James Faulkner took 3-28 to stifle the run flow and South Africa lost four wickets for 30 runs as the promise of their innings deflated.

Brief scores: South Africa 145/6 in 20 overs (R Hendricks 49, Q de Kock 48; J Faulkner 3/28) lost to Australia 146/8 in 19.5 overs (C White 41*, A Finch 33; D Wiese 3/21, R Peterson 3/28