Jason Behrendorff, Usman Qadir bag three-fors to inflict defeat on South Africans

Faf du Plessis couldn't help but giggle at the sight of George Bailey's extraordinary batting stance, but it was Bailey who had the last laugh as his unbeaten half-century ensured the Prime Minister's XI inflicted a four-wicket defeat on the South Africans at the start of their short tour.

The left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff, who took two wickets in the first over of the match, and legspinner Usman Qadir - the son of former Pakistan legspinner Abdul Qadir - shone with the ball as they claimed three scalps apiece. The South Africans could only reach 173 and were bowled out in 42 overs, Aiden Markram (47) and David Miller (45) plus a little lower-order resistance the only bright spots in the below-par batting performance.

In reply, the highly-rated Josh Philippe set the pace in the chase with 57 at better than a run a ball and though his wicket was part of a middle-order wobble the experience of Bailey alongside 19-year-old Jason Sangha took the PM's XI most of the way towards victory.

It was a lively start to the match when Behrendorff removed Quinton de Kock, dragging on, and had Reeza Hendricks caught at slip in the first four balls. He soon added South Africa captain du Plessis to leave them 3 for 30 before Markram and Miller provided some stability.

However, just as the South Africans were finding their feet the innings fell away again. Markram picked out deep square leg and Farhaan Behardien was caught behind first ball to leave 19-year-old Blake Edwards on a hat-trick.

When Miller picked out long-on the innings was threatening to end very early, but Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada managed to stretch the total beyond 150 before Qadir, who has stated his ambitions of playing for Australia having received the blessing of his father, closed out the innings with two wickets in four balls.

Qadir is hoping to secure a distinguished talent visa which can be a fast-track to Australia citizenship, with a view to being available in time for the World T20 in 2020. To secure the visa, his application would need to be sponsored by CA and his performances would need to have demonstrated exceptional skill that would benefit Australian cricket. Watching from the stands, Australian Prime Minister saw first hand what Qadir could do.

Steyn struck early in the PM XI's innings to have Max Bryant caught at point and when Kurtis Patterson was caught behind attempting to leave the ball the South Africans were back in the match. Philippe's fifty, which included an early six off Rabada, came off 48 balls before he and Sam Heazlett fell in quick succession to put the chase in the balance at 5 for 87.

But Bailey, whose stance set du Plessis into a fit of giggles as he stood at second slip, and Sangha calmly took charge in a stand of 77 in 18 overs. Sangha struck a six apiece off Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius before Bailey clubbed the winning boundary through the leg side to bring up his half-century.

The ODI series begins in Perth on Sunday.