[6] The teams were considered evenly matched with "two top quality pace attacks, high standards of fielding, and a level of on-field hostility" between them.

At the end of the series, Border, having achieved his ambition of captaining Australia in South Africa, retired from international cricket aged 38.

Australian batsman Matthew Hayden made his Test debut, deputising for Mark Taylor who was taken ill on the morning of the match.

[1][10] South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first on a "cracked" pitch that the Australian side thought would deteriorate and favour spin bowling towards the end of the match.

[11] The South African second innings saw Andrew Hudson, Peter Kirsten and Kepler Wessels all make half-centuries and Hansie Cronje score 122 runs, his second career Test century.

They declared after scoring a total of 450/9, leaving Australia with a world-record target of 458 runs to win the match with 133 overs remaining.

[6] Hughes responded to taunts by South African spectators by "lunging at the offenders with his bat"[1] in the uncovered player's tunnel and later received a suspended fine of A$4,000 from the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

[1][11] Spin bowler Shane Warne confronted Andrew Hudson after taking his wicket in South Africa's second innings and had to be restrained by wicket-keeper Ian Healy.

[11] Writing in Wisden, Jack Bannister was of the opinion that a "worse example of misbehaviour it would be difficult to imagine"[6] and that "rarely on a cricket field has physical violence seemed so close".

[14] Wisden called the tactics of batting so slowly "baffling"[14] and the time taken to compile their total meant that South Africa were unable to bowl Australia out again, the tourists finishing the match on 297/4 with Mark Waugh on 113 not out after Michael Slater had scored 95 runs.

[15] An innings of 97 by Hansie Cronje and one described as "violent, even by his standards"[16] by Adrian Kuiper who added 47 runs in 22 balls, led South Africa to an easy win in the second match of the series the following day.

[19] In the sixth match a floodlight failure during the Australian innings meant that they had to bat with a reduced level of light after South Africa had made 227/6.

[20] After losing their first seven wickets for 77 runs, bowlers Paul Reiffel and Shane Warne both scored half centuries for Australia and came close to winning the match for their side, a close run out of Warne towards the end of the Australian innings clinching the match for South Africa.

Six were required from the final over, bowled by Damien Fleming who was playing his first match of the tour; South Africa scored just four, with a run out off the final ball of the series meaning that Australia won the match by one run, levelling the ODI series at 4–4 with an "improbable victory".