The series began in Melbourne under a warning, after the debacle of the warm-up match between Victoria and South Africa, which saw the run-ups being covered by rubber mats.

[4] The South Africans won the opening match of the tournament by seven wickets, with a 140-run partnership between Kepler Wessels (70) and Hansie Cronje (91) securing the victory.

[7] When the tournament moved to Sydney, Australia recorded their second victory in a row with a rout of South Africa on a pitch that Captain Allan Border called "shocking".

[12] The following match, played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, saw a controversial not-out call when umpire Steve Davis rejected a straight forward catch from Ken Rutherford batting to Shane Warne.

This call would later be costly, with Rutherford scoring 65 and, with the help of Chris Pringle who took four wickets, leading New Zealand to a 13-run win over Australia.

[14] The second match was another South African victory, this time over a weakened Australia, which didn't have Ian Healy as wicket keeper, as he had been replaced by Tim Zoehrer.

[15] Other health issues included Peter Kirsten being hit on the side of the face, with X-ray scans showing two fractures of his cheek bone.

[19] The first match of two at the Sydney Cricket Ground saw an partnership of 175 between Mark Waugh (107) and Jones (79) as they led Australia to 6/247 from their fifty overs.

Half centuries from Mark Waugh (who was named player of the final series) and Boon got Australia to 223, which South Africa wouldn't reach as they only scored 9/188.