HE didn’t win the match but Shaun Marsh may have prolonged his international career, yet again.

Australia lost the three-match one-day series to South Africa on Sunday, going down by 40 runs in the deciding game in Hobart.

The 35-year-old hit 106 at number three, restoring an Australian innings that had slumped to 3-39 chasing 5-320.

While the Aussies ultimately fell short, Marsh’s ton has all but solidified his spot for the first Test of the summer against India.

There were renewed calls for his sacking after a horror two-match October Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, where he managed just 14 runs across four innings.

Since returning to Aussie soil, Marsh has scored 80 and 98 in one Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia.

He credits a trip to Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth, with his latest form revival.

“It was nice to come home. I had a few days off and just got away from cricket,“ he said.

“We chilled out on the boat. It was a disappointing tour for me, I wanted to come home and recharge the batteries.

“I just wanted to come back and play with that freedom. I thought I did that in the Shield game.”

A “buttock abscess” that required surgery and kept him out of the ODI opener is a distant memory.

“It’s on the mend now, and hopefully one of them things I’ll never have to go through again,” Marsh said.

An in-form Marsh would be invaluable to a rookie Australian Test batting line-up that may be without Usman Khawaja, who is battling to be fit for the Adelaide Test against India, starting December 6.