Melbourne, Australia: Captain A. B. de Villiers scored 91 Friday to guide South Africa to 267-8 in the fourth limited-overs international against Australia.
De Villiers shared a 122-run fourth-wicket stand with David Miller (45) to restore the innings after South Africa slipped to 77-3 after winning the toss and batting in a game it needs to win to save the series.
James Faulkner led the Australian bowlers with 2-45, while Pat Cummins took 2-61.
Nathan Coulter-Nile injured his left hamstring while bowling the sixth over and did not return. Coulter-Nile earlier had opener Hashim Amla caught at mid-wicket for 18.
De Villiers scored his runs with a combination of excellent footwork and timing. In two hours, the world's top-ranked ODI batsman had his total off 88 balls.
He moved the South African total to 230-5 before he was out to Cummins at the end of the 43rd over, a rare error in judgment resulting in a regulation catch in the deep for Steve Smith.
Australia pegged the visitors down at the end of the innings, conceding just 51 runs from the last 10 overs.
Both teams made four changes for the match, with South Africa sidelining pacemen Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, who shared the new ball in the loss at Canberra on Wednesday. Legspinner Imran Tahir missed the match due to injury.
Australia leads the five-match series 2-1 heading into the final game Sunday in Sydney.
