KEY POINTS:
BRISBANE - JP giveth, JP taketh away.
Star-on-the-rise JP Duminy virtually single-handedly put South Africa in position to win a Twenty20 thriller at the Gabba and put a dampener on a day of celebration for Australian cricket.
Either side of Matthew Hayden being given a rousing farewell by
a capacity crowd of 37,457 on Tuesday night, Duminy showed his amazing talent by belting an unbeaten 69 and then taking one of the best outfield catches ever seen.
But the 24-year-old batsman, who ensured a competitive total of 157-5, showed he was human after all, misjudging a relatively standard catch to give Cameron White a life, a boundary and ultimately Australia a six-wicket win.
White, on nine at the time with Australia needing 35 from 23 balls for victory, then hit another three fours in succession off new cap Wayne Parnell to virtually seal the match.
White (40no off 18 balls) went on to ice the game with a six with seven balls remaining, sharing in a 69-run stand with Mike Hussey who made 53no off 33 balls.
Needing 102 off the last 10 overs after being kept in check by South Africa's smart bowling plans, Ricky Ponting (38 off 31) and Hussey clicked into gear.
But a brilliant run out of Ponting by Morne Morkel on his follow through and Duminy's spectacular running and diving catch at long-off to dismiss David Hussey had the visitors back on top.
But Duminy turned from hero to villain by making a hash of White's blow to the same area of the ground.
On top of Duminy's drop, South Africa also paid the price for Mark Boucher's missed stumping of Hussey when he was on two, facing Proteas captain Johan Bothan.
"They were very big moments and if you want to beat a very good team you need to take those," said Botha.
At the top of the order, it was a case of second-game syndrome for boom young opener David Warner (7 off 12) who fell charging Dale Steyn in the fifth over.
Botha quelled the batting hurricane by rotating his bowlers with one-over spells and a new line of attack.
Shaun Marsh also struggled out of the gates as the home side slumped to 29-2 in the seventh over before their recovery for a clean sweep of the series.
Duminy (69 off 41) had come to South Africa's rescue for the second straight match after they won the toss and batted on a Gabba belter.
The 24-year-old hit seven fours and two sixes, including a towering last-over effort off Nathan Bracken, after starting his innings when the tourists were in a hole at 41-3.
Duminy combined with Boucher (19) and Albie Morkel (19) to ensure SA made it to three figures and then carried out-of-touch test teammate Neil McKenzie through the final three overs.
Led well by their bowling attack, Australia built the pressure early with new-ball pair Shaun Tait and Bracken making scoring difficult for Hamish Amla (26 off 26) and Herschelle Gibbs (6 off 12).
- AAP