Australia win the rain-shortened Potchefstroom ODI by 45 runs to deny South Africa a sweep

Alex Carey's 74 and a disciplined Australian attack left South Africa 45 runs adrift of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score when rain ended the series finale at Senwes Park

Australia took the third one-day international in Potchefstroom by 45 runs on DLS, the match called off with South Africa 145 for 4 after 28 overs of a chase that never found its rhythm. The win denied the hosts a 3-0 sweep, although South Africa had already settled the series at the Wanderers and closed it out 2-1.

Temba Bavuma won the toss and asked Australia to bat. They answered with 322 for 9, the first time on this tour they had passed 300, and Carey's innings was the one that held the middle of it together.

Rain arrived at around 8.30pm local time, after a start already delayed by weather, and play was abandoned an hour later. South Africa needed 190 at the 28-over mark simply to be level.

Carey holds together Australia's biggest total of the tour

Mitchell Marsh set the tempo early, striking 56 from 42 balls in a powerplay that gave Australia the platform they had lacked in Durban and Johannesburg.

Carey came in with the innings needing shape and found it slowly, making 14 from his first 25 balls before accelerating through the middle overs. He reached his fifty from 68 balls and finished with 74 from 88.

Oliver Peake's 48 from 53 balls carried the innings into the closing stretch, with Travis Head, Matt Renshaw and Cameron Green all making starts without converting them.

Carey was named player of the match. "Rain is never a good thing in cricket, but we were ahead of the curve," he said afterwards, adding: "I know my role in the team - catching balls and sometimes playing as a batter."

Bosch the one South African to profit

Corbin Bosch was the exception in an attack that leaked throughout, taking 4-60 from his nine overs and claiming wickets in each phase of the innings.

Gerald Coetzee finished with 2-61 from nine and Lizaad Williams 2-48 from six, both paying for width as Australia's lower order kept the scoreboard moving.

Bjorn Fortuin's nine overs went for 50 without the control South Africa have drawn from their spinners all series, with Keshav Maharaj rested ahead of the Tests.

Bartlett and Zampa squeeze the chase

Xavier Bartlett removed Quinton de Kock for a five-ball duck and later had Aiden Markram for 15, finishing with 2-25 from five overs.

Adam Zampa returned to form in the middle overs, taking 2-34 from six and accounting for Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs as the required rate climbed.

Pat Cummins conceded 17 from his five overs. By the time the covers came on, South Africa had not scored at the rate the par score demanded for close to an hour.

Rickelton alone against the par score

Ryan Rickelton was unbeaten on 71 when play stopped, the only South African batter to pass 25 and the one piece of the night Bavuma was willing to take forward.

Breetzke made 25 and Stubbs 14, and the wickets came at intervals that left Rickelton without a partner able to lift the rate alongside him.

"The result didn't go our way, but we wanted to give guys opportunities," Bavuma said. "We managed to go 2-0 up and we had the luxury of resting guys and giving others opportunities." Maharaj was named player of the series.

Fitness questions before Durban

Australia left Potchefstroom with two concerns. Cameron Green took a blow while batting and did not take the field when South Africa chased, having been due to bowl for the first time on the tour after a shoulder problem.

Matt Renshaw also finished the night carrying a complaint, and Josh Inglis remains in Australia recovering from the finger he fractured in the opening match of the series.

Marsh said he was hopeful Green and Renshaw would be available for the Tests, the first of which begins on 9 October at Kingsmead in Durban.

Scorecard: Australia 322 for 9 in 50 overs (Alex Carey 74, Mitchell Marsh 56, Oliver Peake 48; Corbin Bosch 4-60) beat South Africa 145 for 4 in 28 overs (Ryan Rickelton 71*; Xavier Bartlett 2-25, Adam Zampa 2-34) by 45 runs on the DLS method.

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