With victory in their grasp in the first, rain-shortened One-Day International of the seven match series, a mixture of strange tactics, shaky temperament and lack of self-belief allowed South Africa's No.8, Lance Klusener, and No. 9, Mark Boucher, to take 35 off 17 of the last 18 balls, leaving the No.10, Pat Symcox, to take a leg-side single for another home team victory by two wickets and another blow to a West Indian spirit that can hardly sustain many more.

The West Indies changed their team, their garb and the form of the game and, until the final few frantic minutes, seemed to have changed their attitude and their fortunes as well.

After a delayed start under gray, glowering skies and an interruption for rain after they had batted three overs, they recovered from the loss of their first three wickets for 39 including captain Brian Lara first ball caught at point - to reach 154 for four off their reduced allocation of 28 overs. It was a challenging total on a fresh pitch that encouraged fast, seam bowling.

Carl Hooper's delightful, unbeaten 66 from 61 with a six and five fours, that was enough to earn him the Man-Of-The-Match award, and his successive partnerships of 53 off 63 balls with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 62 off 52 balls unbeaten with Keith Arthurton visibly lifted morale as much as it did the total.

Chanderpaul, back to his role as opener, made 45 from 60 balls with the high boundary count of six and nine fours and Arthurton, in his first match since arrival a week ago, batted with the assurance of a cricketer in his 92nd One-Day international for 22 not out.

For having taken longer than allowed to complete their 28 overs, South Africa were allowed one fewer to chase 160, a target revised under the mystifying Duckworth-Lewis system used in rain-affected matches.

Curtly Ambrose, back in action for the first time since he injured his hamstring two weeks ago in the fourth Test, exploited the conditions with all his old skill so that only 11 were eked out off his six overs, two of them no-balls, for the return of Herschelle Gibbs wicket.

He was well supported by Reon King. After conceding 13 from his first two, loose overs, he recovered to finish with the wickets of Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis, to another stunning catch by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, for 23 off his six.

But Lara gambled by bowling Ambrose straight through his maximum six overs and completing King's quota by the end of the 13th over. With Nixon McLean the only other genuine fast bowler at his disposal, he chose for back-up to turn to the left-arm spin of Neil McGarrell, in his second One-Day International, and the medium-pace of Keith Semple, in his first, in preference to the off-spin of the experienced Carl Hooper and the slow-medium stuff of Arthurton.

Semple's five overs went for 40 but the real pressure was on McGarrell who was given the responsibility of bowling three of the last six overs, including the last.

When he came on, the ebullient Jonty Rhodes and his captain Hansie Cronje had added 62 off eight overs and drawn South Africa out of the shambles of 49 for four in the 14th over when Daryll Cullinan swung Semple into Chanderpaul's lap at deep mid-wicket.

The pendulum swung again when McLean, observing the full length that he seldom could find in the Tests, scattered Rhodes' stumps for 30, made from 25 balls that included a huge six off Semple in an over that yielded 13 to South Africa's cause.

In the next two overs, Semple had a more positive impact on the game, calmly collecting Cronje's aerial shot off McGarrell at deep mid-wicket and running out the potentially dangerous Shaun Pollock with a direct hit of the bowler's stumps from deep mid-off as he scampered back for two.

At 123 for seven in the 24th over, South Africa were so far away from their goal the tide seemed to have at last turned for the West Indies. Until then, the smiles that had been missing for so long increasingly lit up West Indian faces and there was the fleeting pleasure of the on-field unity that Lara admitted earlier in the week was absent.

It was transformed in the space of 20 minutes into despair even more tangible than it had been last Monday when South Africa completed their clean sweep of the Test series.

A sell-out crowd of close to 30 000 that had dwindled by half during the long delay had quickly increased on resumption. It was muted as Rhodes, Cronje and Pollock fell in the space of 11 runs and the unlikely prospect of a South African defeat loomed.

It was as swiftly energised again by the clean hitting and quick running of the left-hander Klusener and the right-handed Boucher, century-maker in the Test a week earlier.

Boucher cut McGarrell and Klusener thumped him over extra-cover for fours in the 25th over that brought them 12 closer to their target. They took another 13 off the 26th over from McLean but still needed 12 off the last over.

By now, the ground was like one big open air disco. The fans were on their feet, twisting and shouting at every South African shot and every West Indian fumble and overthrow in fielding that betrayed frayed nerves.

When Klusener picked up the first ball of the final over from McGarrell and plonked it into the delirious spectators at square-leg, the noise was deafaning. It was, effectively, the knockout punch.

The next three balls brought the five runs that carried South Africa to within one of their increased goal.

When Boucher cut the fifth ball hard but near enough to Ambrose's sure grasp at backward point to be caught, there was brief silence - and then a roar as Symcox, the 38-year-old character who is everyone's favourite, strode to the middle.

It reached a crescendo as he pushed the last ball of the match square on the legside and Klusener sprinted through for the winning single.

Almost immediately exploding fireworks lit up the night sky. But for the West Indies there was only continuing darkness.

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Hope came alive yesterday for West Indies cricket fans as their cricket team came agonisingly close to victory in South Africa.

So close, that commentator Tony Cozier was prompted to say: ``I think West Indies have got it this time.''

But the loss-weary West Indies will have to wait for their first tour victory over South Africa for yet another time.

South Africa snatched a dramatic two-wicket victory off the final ball of the rain-affected One-Day International at the Wanderers.

South Africa were set 160 for victory off 27 overs, and after Lance Klusener brought his side back into the game with a gutsy 27 off 15 balls, veteran off-spinner Pat Symcox scrambled the winning run.

West Indies, whitewashed 5-0 in the recent Test series, scored 154 for four in the rain-interrupted innings that was reduced to 28 overs. South Africa were then set a revised target and penalised one over after a slow over rate.

Veteran fast bowler Curtly Ambrose bowled his six overs for just 11 runs and, with fellow opening bowler Reon King, restricted the South Africans to just 36 runs in the first 10 overs.

Jonty Rhodes and Hansie Cronje gave their side a glimmer of hope after the slow start with an aggressive fifth-wicket partnership of 63 before Rhodes was bowled by Nixon McLean for 30 off 25 balls in the 22nd over.

An over later Cronje was caught at deep midwicket for 24 off 31 balls with his side needing 46 off the last four overs.

West Indies looked set for a morale-boosting win until Klusener and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher came to the rescue.

They took their side to within 12 runs of victory with one over remaining and when Klusener pulled left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell over midwicket for six off the first ball, South Africa were suddenly odds-on favourites to win.

Boucher was eventually caught in the gully for 10 off the penultimate ball, leaving 38-year-old Symcox the job of scoring the winning run.

West Indies' score was built around a unbeaten 66 from 61 balls by vice-captain Carl Hooper, who was named Man-Of-The-Match.

He put on 53 for the fourth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 62 for the fifth wicket with Keith Arthurton.