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Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Andrew McGlashan
Australia win by seven runs and the series is level at 1-1. The home side break a run of seven ODI defeats in a row. A superb performance in the field by them. The captaincy of Aaron Finch was very impressive. He backed his quick bowlers who delivered and Adam Zampa bounced back superbly as well. Has to be said it was a poor chase from South Africa. Faf du Plessis spoke about the batting before the game and it was shown up tonight.
"I'm so tired, so pleased to get the win," says Marcus Stoinis. "Feels like it's been a long day. A tough six months."
"A lot of us said the wheel would turn," says Mitchell Starc. "Everyone is very glad."
How significant is this for Australia? We'll see in the days and weeks to come, but it's something they were desperate for
Faf du Plessis "It's a tough pill to shallow, thought the bowlers were brilliant for the most part. I felt we let ourselves down with the bat, very disappointed. The nature of the wicket and the game was we only needed four-and-a-half an over. We knew they'd have to bring the spinner back. The gamble paid off for them, bowling their seams. We needed one more batter to stay with Dave. They put a great deal of pressure on his. Good teams should close that down. I don't believe that score was worth winning, we let ourselves down. It's a quick turnaround, so we have to leave our disappointment in the dressing room."
Aaron Finch "It's nice, the way we defended was outstanding, The bowlers were relentless. Not sure if it's relief, justification for some hard work. Keeps the series alive. We had to shut it down in the ring, make it hard to score, our quicks are as good as anyone in the world. We held our chances and it went our way. We knew we had to bowl them out, or go close to it. We had to keep rolling the dice. If you let it drift they'd get them in the 45th. Take some risks and it worked tonight. Knew Adam would have to play a big role, he's improved so much over the years. A lot of courage and a lot character."
Finch is also named Man of the Match for his runs and captaincy.
We'll wrap things up there for today. We are set for decider in Hobart on Sunday and we'll be back for that. For now, from Gnasher and Alex, it's goodbye and thanks for joining us.
15 off 4 needed
Who will bowl the last over? It's Glenn Maxwell to fire them in
The allrounder said the team had battled collectively to find the mental focus required to succeed with so much going on around Australian cricket
The South Africa fast bowler is currently on seven demerit points, and if he gets one more he could be suspended for four limited-overs matches or two Tests
After seven losses in a row, Australia secured a hard-fought win as Marcus Stoinis took three wickets
The South Africa captain said he would have liked the batsmen to be more clinical in the chase in Perth, after the bowlers had demolished Australia for 152
The defeat against South Africa in the first ODI in Perth was Australia's seventh in a row
