The Australian wicketkeeper hit a six off the second ball of the innings and then really got stuck into the bowling as he brought up his half-century off just 27 balls. For Australia to win they need to score the highest winning total in one-day history, but they could not have asked for a better start as Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden launched into the challenge with relish.

With Gilchrist hitting everything in sight Hayden was always likely to be the junior partner, but he too signalled his intentions with successive sixes off Shaun Pollock in the third over of the innings.

Together the pair raised the Australia 50 in only the fifth over of the innings off only 29 balls with Gilchrist going on to reach his 50 in the eighth over when he hit Makhaya Ntini for his eighth four.

Throughout Australia’s tour Gilchrist has profitted from South African mistakes in the field, and he had another let-off on 51 when he was bowled by an Ntini no-ball, but Ntini finally had the last word when he brought off a sensational catch to get rid off Gilchrist.

Pollock rested himself after four overs for 37 to bring Roger Telemachus on from the Duck Pond end and Telemachus ended the partnership with his fourth ball when Gilchrist pulled him fiercely to midwicket for Ntini to take the catch running in and diving forward.

Gilchrist was out at 81 for one in the ninth over and South Africa had another success in Telemachus’s next over when Ian Harvey, sent in as a pinch hitter, fished at one to give Mark Boucher at a catch at the wicket.

Harvey made only 4, departing at 93 for two and there was another wicket for the home side before the first 15 overs were up.

Ricky Ponting brought up the Australian 100 in the 12 over with a six off Jacques Kallis, but Hayden fell later in the same over when he smashed one to mid-on’s right where Pollock took a magnificent two-handed diving catch. Hayden made 35 off 29 balls and was out at 104 for three.

At the 15 over mark, Ponting had 19 with Darren Lehmann on 7.

Building on a platform laid by Graeme Smith and Nicky Boje during their 83-run second wicket stand, the South Africa pair scored 102 off the last 10 overs of the innings to post their highest total against Australia, beating the 310 for six made in Bloemfontein in 1996/97. It was also the highest score made against Australia by any team in a one-day international, surpassing England’s 320 for eight (off 55 overs) scored at Edgbaston in 1980.

With the series dead and the South Africans no longer burdened by their fear of failure, the home team’s batsmen were able to play perhaps their most relaxed cricket of the summer.

The only wicket to fall during the last 20 overs of the innings was that of Graeme Smith whose 84 was his maiden one-day 50. He was Shane Warne’s only victim on a day when the legspinner was treated with scant respect by the South Africans, conceding 15 off his first over and eventually finishing with 7-0-58-1.

Smith was out top-edging a sweep against Warne to be caught by Darren Lehmann running back towards square leg after facing 103 balls and hitting eight fours. The third wicket fell at 195 and it opened up the way for Kallis and Rhodes to put together 131 off just 93 deliveries in an unbroken stand for the fourth wicket.

Their statistics tell the story: Kallis faced 58 balls for his 80 not out, hitting three fours and two sixes while Rhodes’ unbeaten 71 came off 50 deliveries with six fours and a six.

Smith, who played in the previous two ODIs in this series making 41 on debut in Bloemfontein and 46 in Durban on Wednesday, was again impressive as he moved to his half-century off 63 balls in his third visit to the crease for his century.

With another left-hander, Nicky Boje, also in aggressive mood, the platform had been laid for South Africa to launch an assault on the Australian bowling in the final 20 overs of the innings.

South Africa had lost their first wicket at 74, but Smith and Boje put on 83 for the second wicket without being particularly bothered by any of the Australian bowlers once the fielding restrictions had been lifted.

With Shane Warne having been hit out of the attack after Smith and Herschelle Gibbs had taken 15 off his first, and only, over, the South Africans had placed the tourists under pressure for perhaps the first time in the series.

Boje brought up the South African 150 in the 28th over with successive fours off Darren Lehmann, but in Lehmann’s next over Boje was bowled as he backed away to leg to give himself room to cut. Boje made 47 with the second wicket falling at 157.

With 20 overs remaining, Smith had moved to 68 with Jacques Kallis on 1.

South Africa, who are still seeking their first win of the series, chose to bat first on a sunny, windy morning with rain forecast for later in the day. After a maiden from Glenn McGrath, Gibbs got the scoreboard moving with a four driven through the covers of Jason Gillespie. The right-hander, though, had been beaten past the inside and outside edge earlier in the over.

Smith looked the more solid of the two, although Gibbs showed occasional flashes of form, as when he picked McGrath up over square leg for six in the seventh over of the innings. Smith, though, enjoyed two slices of good fortune in Gillespie’s fourth over when he twice Chinese cut the fast bowler past Adam Gilchrist for four.

When Shane Warne came into the attack for the 13th over of the innings, the South African pair attacked him enthusiastically, Gibbs twice hitting for four and Smith also helping himself to a boundary as 15 came off the over.

But when Ian Harvey replaced Gillespie at the Park Drive end, he struck with his second ball, Gibbs seeming to check his shot to provide the bowler with a one-handed return catch.

Gibbs was out for 37 off 40 balls at 74 for one to bring Nicky Boje in at number three for the second match running. With Gillespie switching ends after just one over from Warne, Boje scored his first boundary with an upper cut over the slips.

After 15 overs Smith had moved to 35 with Boje on 6.

Darren Lehmann, who missed Wednesday’s game with a strained hamstring, and Shane Watson came back into the side with Jimmy Maher and Brett Lee standing down.

South Africa, meanwhile, replaced Nantie Hayward in the South African side.

Shaun Pollock won the toss and chose to bat first.

Australia lead 4-0 in the seven-game series with Saturday’s match in PE and Tuesday’s game in Cape Town to come. The Potchefstroom game ended in a tie.

Teams

South Africa: Shaun Pollock (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Jon Kent, Makhaya Ntini, Roger Telemachus.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Ian Harvey, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath.