Rilee Rossouw blazed 78 on his Twenty20 debut and shared a 129-run second-wicket stand with Quinton de Kock as South Africa opened the three-match series against Australia with a seven-wicket win on Wednesday.
Australia batted first and was restricted to 144-6 from 20 overs, with Shane Watson scoring 47 and James Faulkner unbeaten on 41.
It was nowhere near enough on a batting-friendly pitch at the Adelaide Oval, with the South Africans reaching 145-3 with an over to spare.
Rossouw reached his half century from 32 balls, and finished with 78 from 50 deliveries, including three sixes and seven boundaries.
De Kock chimed in with 46 from 39 balls.
Reeza Hendricks was out to Doug Bollinger in the first over of South Africa’s chase, but Rossouw and de Kock had very little trouble setting South Africa on course for victory until they were both out with the total at 129.
After averaging just 10.3 in his six limited-overs internationals, Rossouw made the most of his first T20.
“My first couple of games for South Africa weren’t great. I stuck there, kept my confidence up,” Rossouw said, “and tonight was my night.”
The second game will be on Friday at Melbourne.
