Australia vs. South Africa, 4th ODI, 2014: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Australia's Steve Smith hit a magnificent century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday to see his side to a three-wicket win in their one-day international against South Africa, securing victory in the five-game series.

AB de Villiers had hauled the visitors to a respectable total of 267-8 as they batted first, and some solid Proteas bowling looked to be tying the series up at 2-2.

But Smith's fantastic knock put the Aussies in the driving seat and they eventually won the match with an over to spare.

Total	for 8 (50.0 ovs)		267
Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
de Kock	c and b	Maxwell	17	38	0	0
Amla	c Cummins	b Coulter-Nile	18	20	3	0
du Plessis	c Wade	b Cummins	28	37	3	0
de Villiers	c Smith	b Cummins	91	88	6	0
Miller	c Smith	b Faulkner	45	61	3	0
Behardien	run	out	22	23	2	0
McLaren	c Wade	b Starc	13	14	2	0
Peterson	bowled	Faulkner	11	12	0	1
Parnell	not	out	3	3	0	0
Steyn	not	out	0	4	0	0
Extras	0nb 9w 5b 5lb		19		19
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Starc	10.0	0	40	1
Coulter-Nile	3.0	0	16	1
Cummins	10.0	0	61	2
Maxwell	9.0	0	43	1
Watson	5.0	0	25	0
Faulkner	10.0	0	45	2
Smith	3.0	0	27	0

The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first on what looked to be a good MCG pitch. Openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla both got starts but failed to push on, falling for 17 and 18 respectively.

Faf du Plessis then fell to Pat Cummins for 28 to leave South Africa 77-3 after 16 overs and failing to build any momentum.

Andy Brownbill/Associated Press

However, as has so often been the case, skipper de Villiers came to the rescue and put on a 122-run partnership with David Miller who eventually went for 45 to James Faulkner.

On a slightly slower pitch than many expected, De Villers provided a masterclass in ODI batting, hauling his side back into the contest with 91 off 88 balls.

He finally fell to the bowling of Cummins, holing out to Smith in the deep, per sports writer Ken Borland, and leaving his side at 230-5 with seven overs remaining:

Farhaan Behardien was the final man to fall for South Africa after a terrific piece of fielding from David Warner, per Cricket Video:

"

Superb effort from David Warner! #AUSvSA https://t.co/YBXk3exfoc

— Cricket Video (@CricketVideo) November 21, 2014"

South Africa eventually finished with a competitive score of 267-8 from their 50 overs, just above average for the MCG, per Cricket Australia's Samuel Ferris:

The Proteas backed up their batting well with some fine bowling early in the Australia innings and they had the hosts at 98-5 at 25 overs with much of the top order failing, Dale Steyn taking the vital scalps of George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell.

Michael Dodge/Getty Images

However, as De Villers did for the visitors, Smith came to the rescue to haul the Aussies back into the game alongside Matthew Wade.

Total	for 7 (49.0 ovs)		268
Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Finch	c du Plessis	b Parnell	22	37	2	0
Warner	lbw	b Abbott	4	8	0	0
Watson	c de Kock	b McLaren	19	25	2	0
Smith	bowled	Peterson	104	112	7	0
Bailey	c de Kock	b Steyn	16	29	0	0
Maxwell	c Amla	b Steyn	2	5	0	0
Wade	c McLaren	b Parnell	52	59	4	1
Faulkner	not	out	34	19	6	0
Cummins	not	out	1	1	0	0
Extras	1nb 6w 5b 2lb		14
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Steyn	9.0	0	47	2
Abbott	10.0	0	43	1
McLaren	10.0	0	62	1
Parnell	9.0	0	52	2
Peterson	8.0	0	44	1
Behardien	3.0	0	13	0

The 25-year-old hit a magnificent century—putting on 121 runs with Wade—to put his side in the driving seat as they attempted to secure the series with one match remaining.

Wade's 52 and James Faulkner's rapid-fire 34 off 19 balls played a supporting role to Smith's 104 off 112 balls as Australia chased down the required target with an over to spare.

Smith was bowled by Robin Peterson swinging for the winning single but Cummins got the job done despite nearly being caught, and Australia won the match by three wickets and claimed the series.