In an effort to catch the home team’s 9-315 in Johannesburg, the Australian batting line-up crumbled, and they were all out for 193.
Only Mitchell Marsh provided any significant opposition for Australia, scoring a quick 71 off 56 balls before being dismissed by Marco Jansen, who was South Africa’s main destroyer and finished with career-best figures of 5-39 off eight overs. While playing for South Africa, Jansen displayed exceptional speed with the bat, scoring 47 runs in just 23 balls.
For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne contributed 44 off 63, but it wasn’t enough to keep the visitors in the game as the batting order fell apart one by one.
Aiden Markram earlier missed a chance to score his second century of the series against South Africa at a packed Wanderers Stadium.
After the Proteas were sent in, Andile Phehlukwayo (39no), David Miller (63), and Markram (93) all took turns lighting up the scoreboard.
Adam Zampa (3-71) of Australia recovered from his disaster in Centurion, where he let up an ODI record 0-113, to orchestrate a mini-collapse of 4-23 before Phehlukwayo let loose late, smashing Michael Neser’s final four deliveries of the innings for 6, 6, 6, and 4.
With the victory, South Africa won the series 3-2. After losing the first two games, they recovered with three straight victories to raise their spirits ahead of the World Cup in India next month.