[1] The South African players and media were buoyant ahead the tour, citing their telling Test form and Australia's coincident decline.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith saw it as his team's best chance to win a Test rubber Down Under: the bowling attack was globally vaunted, the fielding polished and the batsmen enjoying a particularly fecund run, Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla and Smith himself all having passed 1,000 Test runs for the year, while Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers hovered around the 900 mark.

Australia, on the other hand, was still reeling from its two-nil Test defeat in India, although a clinical display against the touring New Zealanders assuaged some of their apprehensions: most notably, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin's sizeable hundred against New Zealand for once made seamless the void left by Adam Gilchrist's retirement.

The press duly built the series up as a must-see, but the players were far more reticent than they had been during the adjacent encounter three years before.

Early in December, however, Australian captain Ricky Ponting drew considerable criticism for his comments about the ICC's wines and spirits.

"It has taken us a long time and a lot of great wins in different conditions around the world to get us to that number-one spot", Ponting declared, speaking to the Associated Press.

The remark was seen as fatalist and trivialising, suggesting that the rubber hardly mattered and, in the eyes of many, that Ponting's hopes of securing a series victory were low.

South African allround kingpin Jacques Kallis arrived in Australia on the back of one of the worst batting troughs of his career.

A little over a week before the First Test, journalist Robert Houwing observed that many of his countrymen had "been ripping the proverbial fox to shreds: almost surreally, Kallis is the hound labouring at the rear of the pack.

"[2] Following injuries to Watson, Symonds, Clark, Krejza and Lee, Australia drafted in McDonald, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Hauritz.

South Africa's Ashwell Prince withdrew from the First Test team after suffering a broken thumb while batting in the nets.

Simon Katich (83) and Michael Clarke (62) then combined for a 4th-wicket partnership of 149 before both batsmen were out in the two overs before tea, leaving the home side at 5/166.

South Africa took a while to get used to the pitch before Makhaya Ntini took two wickets and Dale Steyn one within five overs in the morning session.

The pitch settled down after lunch and only persistent bowling and poor shot selection produced the bulk of the wickets.

South Africa lost McKenzie for 2, but then consolidated until Amla (47) and Smith (48) fell close together and the score was 3/110.

AB de Villiers (106*) and debutant JP Duminy (50*) put on 111 for the fifth wicket to take the visitors to victory.

[13][14] Team selections: Despite an injured knee Andrew Symonds was preferred to Shane Watson, who again was named 12th man.

South Africa named an unchanged side, after Ashwell Prince failed a fitness test on his cracked left thumb.

Brett Lee didn't take the field all day due to a stress fracture in his foot, and Australia was left with three front-line bowlers and their part-timers.

[18] Day Four: Only captain Ricky Ponting (99) and bowler Mitchell Johnson (43*) withstood the South Africa bowling as Australia was dismissed for 247 in their second innings.

[19] Day Five: Losing only captain Graeme Smith for 75, South Africa reached their victory target in 48 overs.

And the 13-year green and golden age in international cricket has really been a sequence of overlapping phases, subtly different, distinguished by key retirements: Taylor and Healy in 1999; the Waughs in 2003; Warne and McGrath in 2007.

Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson were all omitted from the Australian team due to injury.

South Africa seemed flat in the field, with Clarke being dropped twice, but continued to take wickets at regular intervals.

In reply, South Africa lost Smith retired hurt for 30 - with a broken left hand courtesy of a lifter from Johnson.

Besides the heroics of Smith, Ntini faced 75 deliveries, Steyn 65 and Harris 43 to get South Africa within sight of a draw.

The Second One Day International of the 2008-09 South African tour of Australia was played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on 18 January 2009.

Local Tasmanian, Ricky Ponting, who was aided by dropped catches from Neil McKenzie when on 10 and Ntini on 50, scored 64 from 72 deliveries.