Australia beat South Africa by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 international at Kingsmead to clinch the three-match series.

South Africa was only able to get to 164 for eight after being sent in. This was because seamers Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis each took three wickets.

It wasn’t nearly enough because Short (66) and Marsh (79 not out) won the game for Australia with 31 balls to spare. For the second wicket, the two of them put up 100 runs in 47 balls.

Abbott was named man of the match because he had three wickets out of 22.

“The pitch probably suited the bowlers tonight. A lot of credit has to go to the batsmen, it wasn’t easy for batting,” he said.

Marsh played his second innings without getting out. On Wednesday, his team won the first game at the same venue by 111 runs while he was still not out.

He got his runs by hitting eight fours and six sixes in 39 balls.

In his second international match, Short hit seven fours and four sixes off of 30 balls.

“A series win in South Africa isn’t easy to come by,” said Marsh. “All our bowlers were fantastic.”

Temba Bavuma gave South Africa a fast start, scoring 35 off 17 balls, before he was Abbott’s first victim.

South Africa lost four wickets for ten runs in 17 balls, including a double-wicket maiden by Ellis, as they slumped to 46 for four. Ellis finished with three for 25.

Captain Aiden Markram hit 49 and put on 51 for the fifth wicket with Tristan Stubbs (27) in a partial recovery by the hosts.

The third and final match is also in Durban on Sunday.

Photo by Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix