‘In the end we needed a bit of luck’

Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade stood unbeaten to help Australia prevail in a tense finish against South Africa and win by five wickets in the Twenty20 World Cup on Saturday.

Chasing a modest 119 for victory, Australia were in trouble at 81-5 after Steve Smith, who scored 35, and Glenn Maxwell, who made 18, departed in Abu Dhabi.

Stoinis, who made 24, stood firm and put on an unbeaten stand of 40 with the left-handed Wade, who made 15. Stoinis hit the winning boundary to take Australia over the line with two balls to spare.

"The dugout was probably a bit more relaxed than I was. Anytime it comes down to the wire but Stoinis and Wade kept their cool there. It's what experience can do. In the end we needed a bit of luck to go our way and we got it," said Australia captain Aaron Finch.

"We want to talk about us being resilient, big effort to the guys getting it to the last over," said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma.

Earlier, pace bowler Josh Hazlewood took 2-19 to help limit South Africa to 118-9 after the Aussies elected to bowl first.

"I think length was the key, hitting the right length, just on top of the stumps. Anything slightly short or fuller seemed easy, so length was key. The wicket seamed reasonably good, but it was a little bit stoppy, a little bit slow," said Hazlewood.

Number four Aiden Markram played a lone hand with his 40 off 36 deliveries before falling to Mitchell Starc.

Markram kept losing partners with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller departing for 13 and 16.

Leg spinner Adam Zampa struck twice in one over and a big mid-pitch mix up led to Keshav Maharaj being run out for nought.

Kagiso Rabada hit an unbeaten cameo of 20 off 23 balls to take the Proteas past 100.