South Africa beat Australia in the first of their five-game ODI series in Melbourne by a close three-wicket margin.

Australian opener Shaun Marshu00a0starred with a well-made with 79 whileu00a0Ricky Ponting (46) while David Hussey 52 also batted well as the hosts totalled 271-8.

South Africa lost early wickets but JP Duminy (71) and Neil McKenzie (63) added a good 123 runs for the fourth wicket to steady things a bit.u00a0And althoughu00a0the Australiansu00a0fought back, Albie Morkel (40 not out from 18 balls) saw them home with three balls to spare.

Brief scores: South Africa 272-7 (49.3 overs) beat Australia 271-8 (50 overs) by three wickets