Faf du Plessis beamed with pride after his Proteas side showed their big-match temperament to beat Australia in a tense series decider on Sunday.
The skipper and David Miller both hit centuries as South Africa recovered from 55/3 to set 320/5 in a 40-run win in the third ODI in Hobart to take the series 2-1 after their seven-run defeat on Friday.
Ahead of the game, Du Plessis challenged his manne to treat the game like World Cup semifinal, a fixture they have never won.
And after fighting back from 39/3, the hosts putting on a moerse fight in their run chase before falling to 280/9.
Du Plessis, who smashed 125 runs off 114 balls, says: “It’s good, I thought we played our best game of cricket. We challenged ourselves to put in a performance. We wanted to make it a high-pressure game and come out of it convincingly.”
Du Plessis and Miller scored 252 runs together - the biggest partnership against Oz in ODIs.
Miller was named Man of the Match and series after his 135-run knock, to go with his 51 in Adelaide in the first clash of the weekend.
And Miller says: "It’s nice to make it a big one. They put a bit of a scare into us, but credit to our bowlers who have been fantastic the whole series.”
SA next take on Oz in a one-off T20I on Saturday on the Gold Coast.