Marco Jansen star turn gives SA a come-from-behind series win

In what is their last series before the ODI World Cup in India, South Africa gave themselves a massive morale boost as they came from a 0-2 deficit against Australia to seal the series 3-2 in Wanderers on Sunday. Marco Jansen led the way with a stunning all-round performance as he followed up his blitzy 23-ball 47 with a five-wicket haul that included each of Australia's top-five to derail their run-chase early and lead to South Africa's 122-run victory.

Chasing South Africa's 315/9, Australia began in typical gung-ho fashion as David Warner and Mitchell Marsh took them to 34/0 in 3 overs. In came Jansen to put the brakes on that as Warner fell on the second ball of the fourth over, playing a cut shot to a ball angled into him from round the stumps. Aiden Markram did well to take a low, sharp catch at point. Three balls later, Jansen bowled a short ball that new batter Josh Inglis chopped on to his stumps. Mitchell Marsh didn't let that deter Australia in the chase as he and Marnus Labuschagne set about resurrecting the innings.

Jansen kept bowling short to Marsh and was duly punished on numerous occasions. In the 20th over, Marsh pulled the tall left-arm pacer for two sixes before Jansen bowled a steep bouncer on the off-side which Marsh upper cut towards the third man fence. Lungi Ngidi covered a lot of ground near the boundary to complete a catch to end the Marsh juggernaut on 71 off 56 balls - an innings that included six fours and six sixes. Jansen then dug his heels into Australia's line-up as he pulled off another double-wicket over, dismissing Labuschagne - a miscue off a short ball well taken by Andile Phehlukwayo at long leg - and Alex Carey - who nicked an attempted pull shot to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. With that, Jansen had five of the five Australian wickets to fall, with only 136 runs on the board.

There was just no scope for Australia to make a comeback from this point on, even as Cameron Green and Tim David attempted it very briefly. Their ambitious endeavour was thwarted by Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj first cleaned up Tim David with a peach that turned away from the right-hander and rattled his stumps and then got rid of Cameron Green with a caught and bowled. Phehlukwayo added to Australia's woes with the wicket of Michael Neser before Maharaj mopped up the chase to finish with a four-wicket haul.

South Africa didn't quite start as strongly as they finished, as Temba Bavuma fell to a run out in the first over and Quinton de Kock - in his last ODI on home soil - was sent packing in the 12th over. Australia, who oped to bowl in the decider, were far more disciplined than they were two days ago in the fourth ODI where they conceded 416 and gained an upper hand by the halfway stage as Rassie van der Dussen and the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen were sent packing by Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa.

A measured fifth-wicket stand between Markram and David Miller laid out the platform for two of their allrounders to walk and blaze away. Jansen took the cue and smashed his way to an exceptional 23-ball 47 that saw him tear apart the likes of David and Abbott. His assault took South Africa to 273 for 6 in 46 overs, keeping them on track for a 300-plus score.

Zampa and Green however, picked three quick wickets to put doubts over those expectations, until Phehlukwayo too threw his bat around with great success in another cameo. Phehlukwayo's unbeaten 39 off 19 included four sixes - two of which came in the 24-run final over that pushed South Africa to 315/9 - a total more than sufficient to earn the hosts a sensational series win.

Brief Scores: South Africa 315/9 in 50 overs (Aiden Markram 93, David Miller 63, Marco Jansen 47; Adam Zampa 3-71, Sean Abbott 2-54) beat Australia 193 in 34.1 overs (Mitchell Marsh 71, Marnus Labuschagne 44; Marco Jansen 5-39, Keshav Maharaj 4-33) by 122 runs