Australia made hard work of chasing 119 to beat South Africa in a tense opening Super 12 game of the T20 World Cup.
Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade added an unbroken 40 as Australia won by five wickets with two balls to spare in Abu Dhabi.
Steve Smith made 35 from 34 balls after Australia slipped to 38-3.
South Africa earlier laboured to 118-9, Aiden Markram hitting a fluent 40 and Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc taking two wickets apiece.
England start their campaign against defending champions West Indies in Dubai at 15:00 BST.
Although expectation of high scores failed to materialise in the first match between two of the bigger sides, it served up a nervous finish and Australia's victory was not certain until Stoinis hit the second ball of the final over for four.
However, there was precious little atmosphere among a sparse crowd, with a handful of Australia and South Africa fans alongside the locals.
Australia, whose best finish in a T20 World Cup was runners-up in 2010, had gone into the game having lost 15 of their past 21 official Twenty20 games and all five of their previous series in the format, but they rarely looked properly threatened or likely to lose.
They were excellent with the ball, bowling a consistently good line and length to restrict South Africa, albeit they were assisted by some poor shot selection and chaotic running.
Hazlewood's accuracy brought him the wickets of Rassie van der Dussen caught behind, and Quinton de Kock bowled - the ball spinning back off his thigh pad in the powerplay - after Glenn Maxwell skidded one through the defences of Temba Bavuma.
Pat Cummins was stringent in conceding just 19, while leg-spinner Adam Zampa was also economical in going for just 21 and broke South Africa open with the wickets of David Miller and Dwaine Pretorius in the same over.
Left-armer Starc struggled at times, conceding 32, but Australia seem to have all areas covered with the ball, although their death-over ability was untested because of the earlier wickets and will face sterner tests against better opposition in this tournament.
Australia lost Aaron Finch, caught at deep third, and David Warner, caught at backward point, in the powerplay, before Mitch Marsh fell just after.
Smith and Glenn Maxwell, fresh from scoring 513 runs in the Indian Premier League, put on 42 for the fourth wicket but both fell in the space of three balls to leave Justin Langer's side 81-5.
Stoinis and Wade took a few balls to get themselves in, which left Australia needing 36 from four overs, but five boundaries saw Australia sneak over the line and get their campaign off to a winning start.
'It was quite stressful' - what they said Australia captain Aaron Finch: "The dugout as probably more relaxed than I was. It was quite stressful, but Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade showed a really calm head to get us over the line there.
"We thought there were some really good match-ups for Glenn Maxwell in the powerplay, and he bowled beautifully today. The whole bowling unit was outstanding.
"There has never been any issues among us about the losing run - we understand that guys need a rest. It is a great thing for the longevity of Australia cricket, but it was great to have the experienced guys back tonight."
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma: "We talk about us being resilient and there was that opportunity and it was a big effort to take it to the last over. The batting didn't go to plan - we definitely didn't get enough.
"They bowled well, bar the first over. They bowled a good length and they adapted to the conditions and hit a back of a length as often as they could. They didn't give us any opportunities to build some momentum."