Finch and David Warner again failed to fire, placing extra pressure on Australia’s middle order. The captain failed to trouble the scorers, holing out at third man, while Warner fell for 14.

Warner, however, showed glimpses his best could be just around the corner with three blazing boundaries.

While there will be calls to change the opening combination Australia have no option other than to back their two leading run-scorers in the format and proven match-winners to come good with more matchplay.

Smith, who some believe should not be in the XI, underlined his importance to the side with a calming 35 off 34 balls. It took a brilliant running catch from Markram diving at full stretch to stop him from finishing off the chase.

Maxwell’s risk-taking came a cropper on 18 when he was bowled by the left-arm wrist spin of Tabraiz Shamsi attempting to switch-hit him out of the stadium, leaving Australia teetering at 5/81 and needing 38 off 28 balls.

Boundaries to Stoinis with eight and four deliveries remaining finally dragged the equation to less than a run a ball.

“The main thing for me there was actually trying to stay as calm as I can and for a Greek Australian it’s pretty hard,” Stoinis said.

“You saw a bit of emotion come out towards the end, but the main thing is me and Wadey were just communicating about who was going to bowl each over, make a plan and then stay calm.”

The Australians were brilliant with the ball and hardly made a mistake in the field - the latter discipline usually a barometer for the morale and attitude within a squad.

Significantly, Australia’s best performers were their IPL contingent of Smith, Stoinis, Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood who all have games under their belt in the local conditions.

Hazlewood set the tone of the Proteas’ innings with his very first ball. At one stage, he had the dream figures of 2/1 from two overs.

Not in Australia’s T20 picture 12 months ago, match-hardened IPL winner Hazlewood has a compelling case to feature in the XI no matter what conditions they confront in the Middle East.

His dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen, caught behind pushing off the back foot, was a classic Test match wicket. Fortune was on his side two overs later when Quinten de Kock could do no more than watch in horror as his attempt to flick the ball fine deflected off his thigh pad and onto his stumps as if in slow motion.

Finch had one of those days in the field as captain where almost every move he made struck pay dirt. It helped that his bowlers were red-hot, and his charges were alert to even the most remote of opportunities.

The call to play the big three quicks was vindicated despite a slow start from Mitchell Starc, who recovered after conceding 11 runs in his first over to claim two wickets.

In his first official game in nearly six months, Pat Cummins was identified by Shane Watson, in commentary, as the player South Africa needed to target, but he showed his quality with a miserly performance.

Though Starc was the least effective of Australia’s bowlers, his record with the white ball suggests the faith shown in him early will be returned in spades later in the tournament.

The decision to open the bowling with Glenn Maxwell was rewarded with the wicket of Proteas captain Temba Bavuma, who made a hash of a delivery which skidded on and bowled him.

Having picked four frontline bowlers, selectors could not have asked for much more from Maxwell as a fifth option than his run-a-ball return of 1/24.

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