Big but not enough: How Australia ended up as worst team when it comes to defending 300+

New Delhi: There's no safe total in limited overs cricket. On Wednesday night, South Africa once again made mockery of a 372-run target, set by Australia, in the third One-Day International in Durban.

It was the second-highest successful run-chase of all time, involving the same teams again. South Africa chased down 434 runs against Australia in Johannesburg in 2006.

And strangely, Australia have lost eight of the top-10 run chases. New Zealand and England are the other teams. Of these ten, top four are against the Aussies. The Kiwis have failed to defend 350-run target against England in 2015, and England lost to Australia despite scoring 333 runs.

Australia, needing to win the match to stay alive in the five-match series, batted first after winning toss. Good shows from the top order, with David Warner and skipper Steven Smith scoring centuries, seemed to have given them just about enough runs for a win.

It was Warner's opening partner Aaron Finch who started the onslaught, with a 34-ball 53-run knock. Then, there was also a late onslaught from Travis Head, making sure that the visitors post a mammoth total of 371 runs at Kingsmead. 

But, the Proteas, even without their 'Superman' AB de Villiers, chased down the target with four balls remaining in the match. And leading the charged was 'one-legged' David Miller.

Coming late down the order, he scored 118 runs off 79 balls despite struggling to keep himself standing with a hamstring issue. His innings was ably supported by Andile Phehlukwayo, who was playing his only fourth ODI match.

Earlier in the chase, openers Quinton de Kock (70) and Hashim Amla (45) laid a solid foundation, but at one-time, they were struggling at 6-265. Then came Miller.