Smith, Warner come in for big praise from Australia skipper Finch

Australia set South Africa a tricky 194 for victory, and their bowlers then proceeded to bundle out the hosts for 96 in 15.3 overs, with Mitchell Starc and Ashton Agar taking three wickets each.

David Warner set the tone for the victory by scoring a quick 37-ball 57 and forging a 120-run stand with Finch at the top of the order. That was Warner's second successive half-century after he made a valiant 60 in the previous game. Finch heaped praise on Warner's consistency.

“In this format of the game and probably one-day cricket as well, Davey's been so consistent for such a long time,” said Finch. “If you look at his IPL record, where he's played the majority of his T20 cricket, it's been super consistent and he's someone that once he gets in and once he's in good form, he's so hard to bowl to because he accesses both sides of the ground, he's got touch, he's got power, so as soon as you've got guys like that, they can be so hard to stop.

"From his younger days playing T20, when it was all just brute force, the way that he goes about thinking through his innings, planning his innings pre-game, but also adapting – it's extraordinary.

"To sit down and chat with him about plans, how we're going to go about it at the top of the order, which very rarely works the way that you want it to work – his attention to detail in his planning is unbelievable and as good as anyone I've played with.”

Finch also lavished praise on Steve Smith. The former captain batted in an unfamiliar No.5 position in Cape Town, but still scored a 15-ball 30, taking 20 runs from the final over of the innings from Anrich Nortje.

Smith has now batted at every position from No.3 to 9 in T20Is, and Finch said Smith had done well to develop his repertoire of shots. “[He's] a little bit different [to Warner] in regards to being a middle-order player, No.3, 4, 5 throughout his career," Finch said.

"You're always faced with different challenges. So to have that ability to come in and strike at 200 when the game requires it, or come in at 10/2 navigate through a tricky six or seven overs but still score, the ability to do that has been extraordinary.

"I think what's changed for him slightly in his game is he's probably got a bit more power – maybe he's always had the power, but a little bit more freedom to play his shots, and that's been a huge difference to his game.

"Teams used to think that they could just squeeze him, he wouldn't hurt you too much at the back end, but to develop all the shots that he's got now, he's a super-important player to us, and he's bloody impressive to watch.”