Big scores from Rilee Rossouw and Quinton de Kock have steered South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 international between the teams in Adelaide.

Having won the toss, the Aussies posted a score of 144-6 before the Proteas responded with 145-3 with six balls remaining.

Shane Watson (47) and James Faulkner (41 not out) stood out with the bat for the hosts, but Cameron White (24) and Aaron Finch (14) were the only other players to get into double figures.

Kyle Abbott took three wickets for South Africa, while Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren and Imran Tahir also got in on the act.

Despite losing Reeza Hendricks for a duck early on at the crease, impressive knocks of 78 and 46 from Rossouw and De Kock respectively provided the visitors with the bulk of their runs.

It was then left to JP Duminy (6 not out) and David Miller (9 not out) to help the South Africans take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.