MELBOURNE, Jan 11: Debutant David Warner hit the second-fastest Twenty20 fifty as Australia beat South Africa by 52 runs in the first Twenty20 International at the MCG here on Sunday.

The 22-year-old left-hander, who has yet to make his first-class debut but has impressed in domestic one-dayers for New South Wales, blasted 89 runs off 43 balls to help Australia score 182-9 off their 20 overs.

South Africa struggled early in their reply when they slumped to 12-3 and although Jean-Paul Duminy conjured an inventive 78 off 48 balls, Australia ran out easy winners.

The Proteas lost wickets in each of the first three overs as Australia bounced back from their recent Test series defeat by South Africa.

And it was Warner, only the third Australian in 158 years to represent his country before making his first-class debut, who stole the show with a Man-of-the-Match performance.

In just over an hour, Warner smashed six sixes and seven fours to register the joint fifth-highest Twenty20 International score, and the third best by an Australian.

He also posted the sixth-fastest international half-century in all forms of the game with his 50 coming off just 19 balls.

Only Yuvraj Singh has hit a faster half-century in Twenty20 Internationals, reaching the mark off 12 balls against England in the inaugural World Championship at Durban in 2007.

Warner’s heroics enabled Australia to set a challenging target despite losing seven wickets for 42 runs in the final 38 balls.

Once Warner had gone in the 14th over the hosts lost momentum with Dale Steyn, Australia’s nemesis in the Test series, claiming 3-38.

Duminy mounted an impressive salvage operation after the tourists’ poor start. He collected nine fours and one six — an outrageous scoop over wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi off Shaun Tait’s bowling — but his dismissal, lbw trying to reverse-sweep David Hussey, all but ended the tourists’ bid for victory.

Tait, in his first match for Australia in nearly a year, bowled with extreme pace and fire to finish with 2-36, while Hussey claimed 3-25.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

S.E. Marsh c Morkel b Tsotsobe 9

D.A. Warner c de Villiers b Ntini 89

R.T. Ponting c Steyn b Morkel 21

D.J. Hussey c de Villiers b Ntini 19

C.L. White c Kallis b Morkel 7

M.E.K. Hussey run out 7

L. Ronchi c Ntini b Steyn 11

J.R. Hopes c Botha b Steyn 13

N.W. Bracken b Steyn 1

B.W. Hilfenhaus not out 0

S.W. Tait not out 1

EXTRAS (B-2, W-2) 4

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 182

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-97, 3-140, 4-140, 5-154, 6-154, 7-168, 8-180, 9-181.

BOWLING: Ntini 4-0-40-2; Tsotsobe 2-0-16-1 (1w); Kallis 2-0-25-0; Steyn 4-0-38-3 (1w); Botha 4-0-31-0; Morkel 4-0-30-2.

SOUTH AFRICA:

H.H. Gibbs lbw b Bracken 0

J.H. Kallis b Hilfenhaus 4

A.B. de Villiers hit wkt b Tait 0

J.P. Duminy lbw b D.J. Hussey 78

V.B. van Jaarsveld c White b Hopes 12

M.V. Boucher c M.E.K. Hussey b D.J. Hussey 5

J.A, Morkel c White b Bracken 12

J. Botha not out 5

D.W. Steyn c Bracken b D.J. Hussey 1

M. Ntini b Hilfenhaus 0

L.L. Tsotsobe b Tait 1

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-7) 12

TOTAL (all out, 18 overs) 130

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-2, 3-12, 4-65, 5-82, 6-120, 7-123, 8-125, 9-127.

BOWLING: Bracken 3-0-18-2 (1w); Tait 4-0-36-2 (2w); Hilfenhaus 3-0-15-2; Hopes 4-0-31-1 (1w); D.J. Hussey 4-0-25-3 (2w).

RESULT: Australia won by 52 runs.

UMPIRES: B.N.J. Oxenford and R.J. Tucker (both Australia).

TV UMPIRE: P.R. Reiffel (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: David Warner.

SECOND T20 INTERNATIONAL: Brisbane on Tuesday.—Agencies