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Australia have drawn first blood in the five-match ODI series after they beat South Africa by 32 runs in the first ODI in Perth.

Australia batsman George Bailey starred with the bat as he made a spectacular 70, while pace bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile excelled with the ball as he picked up four wickets.

However, South Africa captain AB de Villiers and batsman David Miller both deserve a lot of credit for their valiant half-centuries.

De Villiers would have been brooding about his decision to bowl first after Australia’s opening pair of David Warner and Aaron Finch amassed a 94-run partnership before Warner was caught by Ryan McLaren at square leg off the bowling of Vernon Philander for 46.

Philander struck again just two balls later when Finch was caught behind for 35.

Australia captain Michael Clarke failed to have an impact with the bat as he was caught behind off the bowling of Dale Steyn for 11 runs.

Shane Watson mustered 13 runs before he was caught by Morne Morkel at short fine leg off the bowling of Imran Tahir for 13.

Mitchell Marsh fared no better as he was clean bowled by Philander for 10 runs.

Bailey and Matthew Wade stabilised the innings with a 92-run partnership, during which Bailey brought up his half-century, before he was caught by Faf du Plessis at long-off off the bowling of Steyn.

Bailey, who was dropped on two by Miller at point and Tahir off his own bowling, scored 70 off 75 balls, which included three boundaries and three sixes.

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Wade went on to make 35 runs before he was caught by Rilee Rossouw, who was the substitute fielder, at deep point off the bowling of Philander.

Glenn Maxwell made a quickfire 29 before he was caught by du Plessis at mid-off off the bowling of Morkel.

Thanks to Warner and Finch’s 94-run partnership and Bailey and Wade’s 92-run stand, Australia finished on 300/8 off their 50 overs.

Philander was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Steyn snapped up two and Morkel and Tahir chipped in with one wicket apiece.

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Chasing 301 to win, South Africa got off to a poor start as opening batsman Quinton de Kock was caught behind off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson for two runs.

Hashim Amla only made eight runs before he was also caught behind off the bowling of Johnson.

Farhaan Behardien scored 20 runs before he was caught by Finch at deep midwicket off the bowling of Coulter-Nile.

Du Plessis managed to make 31 runs before he was caught by Marsh at fine leg off the bowling of Watson.

AB de Villiers and Miller steadied the innings with a 126-run partnership, during which both batsmen registered their half-centuries, before Miller was caught by Marsh at mid-on off the bowling of Coulter-Nile.

During his fantastic knock of 65, which came off 65 balls and included five boundaries and a six, Miller surpassed 1,000 ODI runs.

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Coulter-Nile struck again just two balls later when McLaren was caught behind for a duck.

Even though McLaren was not given out initially, Australia did not hesitate in reviewing the decision. Replays showed that the ball had hit McLaren’s glove on the way to Wade behind the stumps and this led to the third umpire overturning the original decision.

Philander scored one run before he was caught behind of the bowling of Josh Hazlewood.

Philander was not given out initially, but Australia reviewed the decision right away. Replays showed that the ball had hit Philander’s bat and this led to the third umpire overturning the original decision.

After being given out lbw on 13 and having the decision overturned following a review, de Villiers went on to score 80 runs off 76 deliveries, which included four boundaries and a six, before he was run out by Steve Smith, who was the substitute fielder.

However, during his innings, de Villiers became the fastest batsman to score 7,000 runs in ODI history.

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Steyn mustered six runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Coulter-Nile.

Despite launching a small counter-attack in the form of a 46-run partnership, Tahir and Morkel could not get South Africa over the line.

South Africa were bowled out for 268 when Tahir was caught by Warner at long-off off the bowling of Maxwell for 22.

Morkel meanwhile remained stranded on 22.

Coulter-Nile was the most successful bowler with a career-best four wickets, while Johnson took two and Hazlewood, Watson and Maxwell claimed one wicket each.

De Villiers was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “We didn’t do well in all three departments. Our bowling was good at times but we had no consistency and we lost wickets at the wrong time. Very disappointing. We’ll have to fix our mistakes for the second game. I’m not sure about the team changes right now, we’ll see about that tomorrow. [Run out with Steyn] has happened before, not our first time. He wasn’t sure and I was so he sent me back, no hard feelings.”

Bailey, who was speaking on behalf of Clarke, was ecstatic to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “Reasonably happy with our bowling, taking early wickets was important. It would have been nice to finish it earlier but I’m pretty happy with out bowling and fielding. Hope I get some sort of luck for the rest of my career as well after those dropped catches. 250 I think was what we were looking at and then we kept adding. Maxi was in the shed and so was Coulter-Nile, all good strikers of the ball. Nathan maybe thought our fielding was sloppy because he saw much more. I was too involved with the captaincy and we challenged ourselves after the second drinks break.”

Coulter-Nile was named Man of the Match, and said: “Mitch was bowling rockets so bowling was easier. Our first game back in the summer and we are slightly lacklustre, sloppy in the field but it turned out pretty well. Very good knock form George Bailey and it was a pretty good wicket. The WACA pitch was a bit slower than usual.”