Wanderers: A prolific partnership of 161 runs off 87 balls between David Warner and Glenn Maxwell helped Australia to win their second T20 match against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

The record fourth-wicket partnership brought a last ball victory to Steven Smith and his men. This was a must win game for the Aussies in order to keep their hope alive in the three-match series. The win helped them to level the scorecard as 1-1. The final match at Cape Town will be the decider of the series.

Earlier, an outstanding performance by Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock helped the Proteas to set a total of 204 runs in 20 overs with three wickets remaining. The former scored 79 runs in 41 balls, which included 5 sixes and 5 fours. The latter scored 44 off 28 balls and hit 8 fours and 1 six. Miller added 33 runs to the total. Australian bowling side was little upset except James Faulkner who clinched 3 wickets for 28 runs.

Australia looked quite less compact in the first few overs. The target was huge and they lost 3 wickets after 5.4 overs when the scoreboard showed only 32. But Warner’s splendid innings of 77 in 40 balls and Maxwell’s career best score of 75 off 43 balls helped Smith and his team to breathe a sigh of relief.

The twist in the tale came in two no balls delivered by Chris Morris and Dale Steyn. Both Steyn and Rabada clinched two wickets each. The bowling side of the Proteas started to fumble during the later half of the innings when the Aussies scored high to meet the target with five wickets remaining. Warner bagged the man of the match trophy.

Nevertheless, the crowd did enjoy a heart-wrenching and thrilling game of T20 format of cricket at Wanderers Stadium. Not much before the advent of the T20 World Cup, Maxwell regains his previous form to cheer up the Aussies and give them hope of clinching the T20 title.